
Co^Tigkls'". 



CjQEffilGKT DEPOSm 



L 



NEW 
RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



FREDERICK J!*REILLY 

PRINCIPAL, PUBLIC SCHOOL 33, THE BRONX 
NEW YORK CITY 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



(kvio\ 



COPYRIGHT, 191 7, BY 

D. C. HEATH & co:y:PANY 

I c 7 



APR 13 1917 



A457957 



1- ' 



PREFACE 

Two years ago, the writer published ''Ra- 
tional Athletics for Boys." ''New Rational 
Athletics for Boys and Girls" is not a revision 
of the former work, but an entirely new book, 
fundamentally different, in that the author 
has definitely discarded the "Grade Stand- 
ards" on which his system was formerly 
based. Moreover, in this book he has com- 
pleted the program for girls, which was only 
outlined in the earlier publication. 

The present work includes several plans for 
taking up this system of physical training, 
proceeding from the very simplest form to the 
complete system, so that the teacher in any 
school can take up the work and develop it 
just as far as his judgment and the special 
conditions warrant. 

The present general movement toward 
"preparedness," the new recognition of the 
necessity for physical fitness, and the enact- 
ment of laws requiring more attention to phys- 
ical training in the schools combine to give 
this book a more than usual timeliness. 

F. J. R. 

New York, 

March 31, 1917. 

Ill 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface iii 

List of Illustrations vi 

I. Introductory 1 

II. Organization of the Physical Training Period . 10 

III. Teaching the Exercises 27 

The Exercises in Detail: Running, — Potato 
Race, 29, Sprints, 32; Hop, Step and Leap, So; Broad 
Jump, 37; High Jump, 40; Chinning the Bar, 42; Grip, 
44; Shot Put, 46; Pitching, 52; Basket Ball Goals, 53; 
Combination Dip, 54; Trunk Lifting, 58; Chest Ex- 
pansion, 60; Baseball ThroTving or Pitching, for Girls, 
61; Serving in Tennis, 63; Basket Ball Throw {for 
distance), 65; Puttiag in Golf, 68; Driving in Golf, 69. 

IV. The Class Athletics System 74 

V. Organization of Monthly Inter-Cl.\ss Meets . 82 

VL The Point System and Individual Cl.\ssification 94 
The Point System, 96; Revised Classification, 99. 

Vn. The Standards Based on Individual Classification 106 
Posture, Alertness, and Hygiene, 106; Chest Expan- 
sion, 107; Strength of Grip,- ,llb; Potato Race, 111: 
Standing Broad Jump, 112; Hopi Step, and Leap, 112; 
Basket Ball Goals, 113; Pitching, 113; High Jump, 114; 
Shot Put, 115; Chinning the Bar, 116; Combination 
Dip, 117; Trunk Lifting, 117; Exercises for Girls: — 
Putting in Golf, 120, Serving in Tennis, 120, Driving 
in Golf, 121. 

iv 



CONTENTS V 

VIII. Competition in Scholarship and Athletics .... 123 

IX. The Pentathlon 129 

X. Trophies and Prizes 133 

For the New Form of Class Athletics, 134; For Inter- 
Class Meets, 135; Prizes for High Rating in Athletics 

136; Prizes for the Pentathlon, 138 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Victor Lamberti: All- Around Champion, 1917 Frontispiece 

Plate 1. — Squad Leader's Card: Boys Page 1^2 

Plate 2. — Squad Leader's Card: Girls 13 

Plate 3. — Wall Chart: Boys 16 

Plate 4. — Wall Chart: Girls 17 

Plate 5. — Floor Plan: Boys . . 19 

Plate 6. — Floor Plan: Girls ' 23 

Plate 7. — Potato Race 31 

Plate 8. — Crouch Start 33 

Plate 9. — Broad Jump: Ready 49 

Plate 10. — Broad Jump: Correct Landing 38 

Plate 11. — Chinning: Good Form -43 

Plate 12. — Chinning: Bad Form 43 

Plate 13. — Grip Exerciser 45 

Plate 14. — Grip Testing. 45 

Plate 15. — Shot Put: First Position 47 

Plate 16. — Shot Put: Second Position 50 

Plate 17. — Shot Put: Bad Form 51 

Plate 18. — Pitching Target: Boys 52 

Plate 19. — Combination Dip: Taking Places 55 

Plate 20. — Combination Dip : Ready 55 

Plate 21. — Combination Dip: First Count 56 

Plate 22. — Combination Dip : Second Count 56 

Plate 23. — Combination Dip: Third Count 57 

Plate 24. — Testing the Combination Dip 57 

Plate 25. — Trunk Lifting: First Position 58 

Plate 26. — Trunk Lifting: Second Position 59 

Plate 27. — Testing Chest Expansion 60 

Plate 28. — Target for Baseball Throwing 62 

Plate 29. — Serving in Tennis: The Net 63 

vi 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii 

Plate 30. — Serving in Tennis: 1 64 

Plate 31. — Serving in Tennis: 2 65 

Plate 32. — Basket Ball Throw: 1 m 

Plate 33. — Basket Ball Throw: 2 67 

Plate 34. — Putting in Golf 68 

Plate 35. — Addressing the Ball 70 

Plate 36. — At the Top of the Swing 70 

Plate 37. — At the End of the Swing 70 

Plate 38. — Putting in Golf: Bad Form 70 

Plate 39. — Driving in Golf: The Cage Closed 71 

Plate 40. — Driving in Golf : The Cage in Use 72 

Plate 41. — Score Card: Monthly Inter-Class Meets .... 84 

Plate 42. — Floor Plan: Potato Race 91 

Plate 43. — Floor Plan: Field Events 93 

Plate 44. — Revised Classification and Membership Card . . 98 

Plate 45. — Revised Standards: Boys 104 

Plate 46. — Revised Standards: Girls 105 

Plate 47. — Table of Results 118 

Plate 48. — The School Emblem 127 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 




Victor Lamberti — All- Around Champion, January, 1917 

Grade, 7B; Age, 14 yr. 5 mos.; Height, 5 ft. 3 in.; Weight, 124 lb.; Shot Put (6 
lb. Medicine Ball), 37 ft.; Potato Race flOO yds.), 22 sec; Chinning the Bar, 10 
times; Hop, Step, and Leap, 32 ft.; Combination Dip, 20 times. 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 
FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 

I. INTRODUCTORY 

The system here presented is simply an 
effort to carry into effect the avowed purpose 
of the Pubhc Schools Athletic League, as 
stated by General Wingate: 

^^The fundamental purpose which the 
officers of the league have had at heart 
since its organization has been to stimu- 
late and encourage the average boy — in 
fact, the boy who is physically below the 
average — to so train his body that he 
will become erect, healthy, and strong, 
and his mind, so that he will become 
manly, alert, and honorable. The best 
manner in which this can be ac- 
complished has been ascertained to be 
through competitive exercises." (Minutes 
of Tenth Annual Meeting.) 

The most elementary books on psychology 
tell us that there are two ways of present- 
ing a subject to students: one, the scientific 



2 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

method — the orderly arrangement of facts, 
as the adult mind grasps them after mature 
study; the other, the psychological method, in 
which an effort at least is made to develop the 
interest of the student to the point where he 
just naturally wants to go on, to know more, 
to become more proficient in the given sub- 
ject. In some subjects, it is hard to arouse 
this interest, perhaps because the child's mind 
is not ready to take them up at the time 
we want him to do so. But children are al- 
ways ready to play, and it is strange that 
physical training teachers have so generally 
failed to study their children, to learn what 
they like to do, and to make that natural 
liking fit into a well organized scheme of 
physical development. They have studied 
the boy's body and have prescribed series of 
exercises that will develop this, that, and 
the other muscles, that will help to secure 
coordination and inhibition, and to correct 
weaknesses here and there. But they have 
not studied the boy's mind to find out how 
to get him to be keenly anxious to do those 
things that will make for sound physical de- 
velopment. And one need not be a profound 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 3 

student of human nature to know that set 
forms of exercise seldom achieve their end. 
Few indeed are the adults who can consist- 
ently follow a set of exercises for the benefit 
to be derived from them; to expect children 
to do so is little less than absurd. 

Studying the natural interests of children 
and, through these interests, leading them 
on to do just what you want them to do, is 
not surrendering to them and merely amus- 
ing instead of training them. Our boys 
and girls learn to take the bitter with the 
sweet. They learn the formal work pre- 
scribed by the course of study as quickly as 
possible because they know that this must 
be done before they are allowed to go to the 
athletics. They practice Chinning, Combina- 
tion Dip, etc., because these exercises are 
sandwiched in between the more interesting 
things and count just as much in points; 
and this, we believe, is the logical application 
of the doctrine of interest to the problem of 
physical training. 

Rational Athletics consists, on the one 
hand, of a series of things most of which 
children really like to do; on the other, of 



4 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

a series of things which, taken together, 
constitute a pretty thorough all-round set 
of physical training exercises. In addition 
to this, the method of carefully regulated 
competition makes of the whole series a 
game which boys and girls play to win, thus 
bringing to each and all the keen joy and 
the manifold benefits, physical, mental, and 
moral, of honest athletic competition. At 
the same time they are learning, incidentally, 
the rudiments at least of several wholesome 
outdoor sports which will be of lasting benefit. 
It is no small thing to say that every boy 
in the school is being trained in the Shot 
Put; Broad Jump; High Jump; Hop, Step, 
and Leap; Goal Shooting; and Baseball 
Pitching. It is no small thing to say that 
every girl in the school (not merely a select 
few) is learning to throw a baseball and a 
basket ball, to shoot goals with speed and 
accuracy, to handle a racket, a putter, and a 
driver. \Mio can say what this will mean to 
them in after years, in health, happiness, 
and efficiency.? Nothing is set down in this 
book that has not been tried and tested. We 
have tried many things which we thought 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 5 

were good; but when experience proved they 
were not, we dropped them. We have done 
all the experimenting. Whatever is described 
in these chapters is not what may be done^ 
under exceptional circumstances, but what 
has been done, and by teachers not specially 
trained for the work. 

Any school — boys\ girls', or mixed — 
can start Rational Athletics immediately, 
by organizing the physical training period 
in the manner described in the following 
chapter and, later, an Athletic Association 
holding Inter-Class Meets, — say, once a 
month. After a term ot two of experience 
the need of a system of handicapping will 
probably be felt. 

We have tried standards of handicapping 
based on grade alone, but have found them 
wanting. We therefore recommend, without 
reserve and as the result of experience, the 
individual standards described in a later 
chapter, based on grade, age, height, and 
weight. We would recommend, however, 
that the ''Point System'' be not taken up at 
the start. It should be an evolution from 
experience, as it was with us. 



6 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Rational Athletics, as a system, is not pri- 
marily a matter of records and charts and 
bookkeeping. It is primarily a plan for 
getting all boys and girls to take active part 
in real, live, athletic competitions as the best 
possible method for all-round physical de- 
velopment. To this end, the program, taken 
as a whole, will be found to provide vigorous 
exercise for practically every muscle in the 
human body. This fact was demonstrated 
rather forcibly in the case of four men of 
our corps, including the author, w^ho, without 
previous practice, put themselves one day 
through the program of events, as though 
they were members of the 8B class of boys. 
I am glad to say they all ''qualified," but it 
is no breach of confidence to say that they 
were lame and sore for several days after. 

The keeping of records should always be 
secondary to the main purpose, which is 
exercise — vigorous, wholesome, all-round ex- 
ercise for everybody. \Mien the physical 
training period becomes a period in which 
every hoy and girl is consciously training for 
an inter-class meet or an individual cham- 
pionship, you have ''Rational Athletics," 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 7 

whether you use the Point System and keep 
Individual Records, or not. As previously 
stated, one term's experience in conducting 
''Meets" will probably be sufficient to make 
clear the advantages of a ''Point System." 

The immediately essential thing is to break 
away from the old idea that only the chosen 
few, naturally endowed with strength, agility, 
and aggressiveness, are proper material for 
the "team." Once get the idea that every 
one, unless excluded for sound physical rea- 
sons, is a member of the team, and that the 
success of the team depends on the average 
standing attained by all its members, and you 
are practicing "Rational Athletics." The 
system that permits only the favored few to 
get the enjoyment and the benefits of athletic 
training is so unjust, unfair, and undemo- 
cratic, that we who have tried the other plan 
must be pardoned if, at times, we lose pa- 
tience with those who fondly cling to the old 
plan, — those who, pointing to the trophies 
won by their "team," imagine they are doing 
their duty in the matter of physical training. 
If we could only make them understand that 
it requires no more, but rather less, time. 



8 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

labor, and skill to train a whole school to a 
fair average of performance in a well balanced 
program of events, than it does to train a 
picked team of star athletes to a high degree 
of skill in a few events, for competition with 
other teams similarly trained! If w^e could 
only make them understand that, once or- 
ganized on the basis of '' Rational Athletics," 
the physical training period becomes a period 
looked forward to with joy; that no one asks 
to be "excused," if he can help it; that every 
one is distinctly ''on the job," ready to help 
get out apparatus or do anything else, that 
no valuable time may be lost! This may 
sound like exaggeration, but it is plain fact 
which may be witnessed at any time by any 
one who cares enough about it to do so. As 
one teacher expressed it, ''I can't make the 
girls march up to the 'gym'; they just 
dance up!" 

It is a curious commentary on our sense of 
relative values, that whereas schoolmen agree 
that education is a threefold process, phys- 
ical, mental, and moral, we have, in practice, 
relegated physical training to the grade of 
a very minor subject, along with music, draw- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 9 

ing, shop work and penmanship, allowing about 
five points out of a hundred to each in making 
up our record of progress. There are, how- 
ever, already signs of a great awakening to 
the value, the importance, the necessity of 
greater attention to sound physical training 
for boys and girls as a preparation for the 
serious duties of life in whatever sphere they 
may move, for a keener enjoyment of life 
through participation in wholesome outdoor 
sports, and for the bitter struggle for per- 
sonal and national existence that may come 
to us as suddenly and as terribly as it has 
recently come to the nations of Europe. 
From all these points of view there is nothing 
(except a better moral training than our sys- 
tem at present affords) that will pay richer 
dividends in our national life than a thorough 
physical training for all our boys and girls, 
and we maintain that this can be best accom- 
plished through a properly regulated system 
of athletic competition on the principles here 
laid down.^ 

^When the "Welsh Law" goes into full effect in New 
York State, in September, 1917, we shall add to our present 
program organized "hikes" for boys and girls, allowing 
additional credit for same. 



II. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE 
PHYSICAL TRAINING PERIOD 

The course of study prepared by Dr. 
Crampton for the public schools of New York 
prescribes five different kinds of work for 
each lesson in physical training. They are: 

1. Introductory — simple ''warming up" 
movements to prepare the class for the real 
work; 

2. Corrective — exercises designed to se- 
cure good posture; 

3. Educational — exercises for training in 
form, precision, alertness, control, isolation, 
coordination, and inhibition; 

4. Hygienic — vigorous work to exercise 
the muscles and stimulate the organs; 

5. Recreative — folk dancing, games, ath- 
letics, for amusement and relaxation. 

"New Rational Athletics" is simply an 
interpretation of the last two parts of the 
lesson. It consists in bringing vigorous ath- 

10 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 11 

letic exercises and the method of athletic 
competition into the regular physical train- 
ing period. By this means, three very de- 
sirable things have been accomplished: 

A. The formal work, rhythmic and re- 
sponse, is mastered more rapidly than ever 
before because the pupils are made to realize 
that this work must be done before they are 
allowed to go to their athletic work. 

B. Each pupil, instead of a select few, 
gets the benefit of some real athletic work 
and learns the rudiments of several whole- 
some outdoor sports. 

C. The physical training period becomes, 
in fact, a period of conscious training for 
a competition in which the pupils know they 
will be participants. 

The physical training class should be di- 
vided into squads of from 6 to 8 pupils each. 
The best way to accomplish this is to have the 
class hold an election, choosing squad leaders 
by vote. The squad leaders, having been 
elected, should then choose the members of 
their squads as boys choose sides, each select- 
ing one in turn. It makes some difference. 



12 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



P- S... Term, 1ft 

* Rational Athletics— Boys 
Record of. Class Squad... 



Classification: 
A. B. C, Z), E 
Junior Senior 






















Running 






















Hop, Step, and Leap 






















Broad Jump 






















Hi^hJump 






















Chinning 






















Grip 






















Shot Put 




















• 


Combination Dip 






















Trunk Lifting 






















Chest Expansion 






















Pitching 






















Basket Ball Goals 























Based onREILLY'S New Rational Athletics ForBoys and G?rfs-D.C.HEATH6Co..Puk 

Plate 1. — Squad Leader's Card: Boys 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



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14 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

as noted elsewhere, whether the competition 
is in athletics alone or in scholarship and 
athletics; that is, it makes some difference 
in the order in which the leaders select the 
members of their squads. The final com- 
position of the squads is, of course, very much 
the same in either case. 

It is well for the teacher not to interfere 
in this election. Let the children choose 
their own leaders; they know one another 
better than he knows them. When a leader 
proves incompetent, it is time for the teacher 
to suggest to that squad that they hold a new 
election. They will usually act upon such a 
hint. 

The squad being thus organized, the leaders 
should be furnished with some sort of form 
for keeping a record of the achievements of 
their respective squads. Let us say here, 
however, that the important thing is not 
the keeping of records. The squad leader's 
business is to prevent and stop ''fooling" and 
to keep his squad working. It is well, there- 
fore, for him to record frequently w^hat his 
boys are doing. The teacher should look 
these records over, occasionally, but where 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 15 

he has confidence in the skill and honesty of 
the leaders, he may accept their records of 
most events as official. This should be done 
sparingly, however, and in no case should the 
final rating depend solely on records made by 
a pupil. We have found that a set of cards, 
arranged as shown in Plates Nos. 1 and 2, 
serve this purpose very well. 

At the end of the month the teacher writes 
up the record of each pupil in the Chart 
which hangs on the classroom wall for all to 
see (Plates 3 and J^), Some judgment is nec- 
essary in giving credit for the month's work. 
In exercises in which the element of chance 
enters largely, as in Goal Shooting, the pupil 
is given credit for the best record he has 
duplicated during the month. In other exer- 
cises, he is given credit for his best perform- 
ance, unless his best mark is very much 
higher than his average. In such a case the 
teacher will test him during a regular period. 
Our program is arranged so that the teacher 
of physical training has a few free periods, 
during which he writes up his records. It 
means some additional clerical work; but the 
teachers who have been doing it for several 



16 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 




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FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



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18 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

years past are unanimous in saying that it 
pays. 

In our classes we have two forty-minute 
periods a week for physical training. Each 
lesson begins with the formal work, rhythmic 
and response 5 prescribed by the course of 
study under the heads, (1) Introductory, 
(2) Corrective, and (3) Educational. The 
amount of time devoted to this work depends 
upon the promptness with which the class mas- 
ters the work laid down by the visiting special 
teacher. AYe have found that the very general 
desire to get at the athletics has helped con- 
siderably in securing close attention, in order 
that this part of the lesson may be gotten 
through with as soon as possible. The squad 
formation may be used to advantage here 
also, the squads first mastering the lesson 
being released where practicable to practice 
some athletic exercise that will not interfere 
with the formation of the rest of the class. In 
this connection we find, too, that forming an 
''aw^kward squad" of those boys whose habit- 
ual posture is bad, and excluding its mem- 
bers for a time from the athletic work, has a 
very good effect. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



19 



There should be as many ''positions" on 
the floor as there are squads in the class. 
With six squads, there should, if possible, be 
six different activities for them to enter into. 



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Plate 5. — Floor Plan: Boys 

With our full program for boys (12 events) 
in operation, we arrange as follows: 

Chest Expansion is taken in the Setting 
Up Drill in the classrooms and, also, at the 
beginning of the formal lessons. Once in 
two weeks, a sheet of oak tag or wrapping 
paper is laid on the floor by each pupil m the 
entire class, and the Combination Dip and 



20 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Trunk Lifting are practiced as a class exer- 
cise. {See illustrations, pages 55 to 59.) The 
Grip exercise is taken after they have finished 
the Potato Race, this latter event, naturally, 
being run off very quickly. While the boys 
(and girls) are standing waiting for their 
next event, they amuse themselves with the 
Grip exercisers. {See illustrations, p. 45.) 

This still leaves eight events which, for 
a class of six squads, we arrange in an alter- 
nating program, as follows: 





First Lesson 




Second Lesson 


1. 


Hop, Step, and 


1. 


Hop, Step, and 




Leap 




Leap 


2. 


Pitching 


2. 


Chinning 


3. 


Broad Jump 


3. 


Broad Jump 


4. 


Shot Put 


4. 


Basket Ball 
Goals 


5. 


Potato Race 


5. 


Potato Race 


6. 


High Jump 


6. 


High Jump 



The reason for the change in 2 and 4 is, 
first, that our Pitching Target hangs near 
the Chinning Bar so that we cannot have 
the two events going on at once; second, the 
Shot Put and Basket Ball Goals take up so 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 21 

much space that we cannot very well have 
both of them going on at once. In any case 
the selection and arrangement of events 
must of course be governed largely by the 
space available. {See Plate No. 5 for dia- 
gram of floor arrangement for hoys.) 

The girls' classes are organized in exactly 
the same manner as the boys'. With girls, 
practice in Chest Expansion is taken care of 
in the same way; that is, both in the class- 
room and at the beginning of the physical 
training lesson. The Grip exercise is prac- 
ticed after the Running, also. 

This still leaves seven events. Where 
space allows, it is best to have all seven in 
operation, allowing one squad to take two 
events if possible in the given time. 

The size and shape of the room and the 
position of wall spaces will to a large extent 
necessarily determine the positions on the 
floor for the various exercises. But the 
nature of the exercises should alone deter- 
mine the order in which they are taken up. 
Even if squads have to crisscross and march 
about a little, they should not be sent im- 
mediately to an exercise that uses the same 



22 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

set of muscles as in the one just finished. 
Arm and leg exercises should be alternated 
as much as possible. For instance, compare 
the two following orders of exercise: 

Good Sequence Poor Sequence 

1. Running 1. Running 

2. Pitching 2. Broad Jump 

3. Broad Jump 3. High Jump 

4. Hop, Step, and 4. Hop, Step, and 

Leap Leap 

5. Shot Put 5. Pitching 

6. High Jump 6. Shot Put 

Referring again to the diagram of our 
floor arrangement for boys, Plate No. 5, it 
will be seen at a glance that a squad starting 
at any one of these positions and moving on 
in a circle to the succeeding ones w^ill in all 
but one instance alternate arm and leg 
exercises. In the girls' program (see Plate 
No, 6) we cannot make quite so good an 
arrangement, because most of the girls' events 
are arm and trunk exercises. This is not an 
accident. Any one who watches girls play 
will realize that ''tag," ''ring-a-rosy," rope- 
skipping, dancing, etc., afford plenty of exer- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



23 



cise for the. legs, but not much for the arms 
and very httle for the trunk. Consequently, 
in selecting and inventing exercises for girls, 
we looked for events that would involve bend- 



P V r cV \ n ^ 



X) V w \ n a 



D 



Vv^^'t \ 





o 


Mlllll 





^ e-r V 



'^^ 



^a&Ua X^aW^VroiNT 



(gt.^ 



+ i- Vo'(^^ \o X^ace- ^ h 



asVei^AW G».o^\& ry 



Pl.\te 6. — Floor Plan: Girls 

ing and twisting of the body, swinging the 
arms, and throwing things. Any one who 
will conscientiously spend a few minutes on 
each of the girls' exercises will probably 



24 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

realize by a queer feeling about the abdomen 
that some muscles there, which are generally 
much neglected, have been given some strenu- 
ous and unusual work to do. 

The formal work being finished, the signal 
to ''form squads" is given, — if the squad for- 
mation is not already in use in the class work. 
Squads being formed, the order is given "To 
Positions, March!'' Let us say that Squad 
1 goes to the starting line for the Hop, Step, 
and Leap; Squad 2, to position for Pitching 
or Chinning; Squad 3, to the Broad Jump; 
Squad 4, to position for Shot Put or Goals; 
Squad 5, to Potato Race; and Squad 6, to 
the High Jump. 

A little formality in lining up, marching in 
good order, halting at command, beginning 
and stopping work promptly on signal, is 
very desirable. The blowing of a whistle 
should be the signal for everybody to stop 
instantly whatever they are doing. Boys 
and girls should be trained to obey that 
signal absolutely; and it should be used ex- 
clusively by the teacher as an order to ''Stop 
and Listen." 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 25 

The squads being lined up in position, the 
order, "Begin!'' is given and they start prac- 
ticing, each squad under the directon of its 
leader. Within three or four minutes each 
member of the various squads will probably 
have had his turn, possibly two or three 
turns, depending on the exercise. The teacher 
then blows the whistle; all stop where they 
are; the order "Fall In!'' or "Form Lines!" 
is given; then "To Positions, March!" and 
the squads march in line to the next posi- 
tion, marking time till the order "Squads, 
Halt!" is given. Again the order to begin is 
given and they go at the exercise. There is 
so much freedom allowed in the exercises 
themselves that this tightening up and for- 
mality in making the changes from one posi- 
tion to another is very effective, and, in our 
judgment, it should very rarely be relaxed. 

In case the end of the period comes before 
all the squads have had a chance at all the 
exercises, the squad leaders should make 
note of where they stopped, and at the next 
lesson they should begin at that point. It 
is a good idea to post a list of the exercises, 
numbered in the order in which they should 



26 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

be taken up. After a few weeks the sequence 
becomes practically automatic. 

Reliable boys and girls should be put in 
charge of the apparatus. They should go 
directly to the gymnasium or playground and 
get things in position so far as is possible 
without interfering with the floor space neces- 
sary for mass work. At the end of the lesson 
sufficient time must also be allowed for put- 
ting things away. 

In work of the kind we are doing, rubber- 
soled shoes are almost a necessity for good 
performance and for safety. The teacher 
should, therefore, insist, as far as possible, 
on rubber-soled shoes. Being excluded from 
the exercises, occasionally, has a good effect 
on boys and girls who forget to bring their 
shoes. Girls should, of course, wear bloomers. 



III. TEACHING THE EXERCISES • 

It does not require specially trained teach- 
ers or experienced athletes to introduce Ra- 
tional Athletics. The one thing needful is 
a real live interest in boys and girls, — given 
that, all ''the rest will be added unto you." 
The experienced athlete will probably skip 
this chapter. For the benefit of those less 
expert and less self-confident, we have set 
down here, in some detail, suggestions as to 
how to teach the various exercises, and how 
to test performance — suggestions which we 
believe will be welcomed and found profitable 
by most teachers. 

Let us state in beginning, that while chil- 
dren may get more fun out of going at things 
in their own haphazard way, it pays, in the 
long run, to work for and insist upon ''good 
form." There are usually several wrong ways 
and only one right way of doing anything, and 
human nature is so constituted that we al- 
most invariably go about doing things the 

27 



28 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

wrong way first. So true is this that we have 
found that it pays to spend many weeks teach- 
ing the form of various events as mimetic 
exercises with the whole class, before allow- 
ing them to be actually tried as events. As in 
anything else started wrong, it is hard to 
correct the wrong method. AYhile teaching 
the form of the exercise to the class as a whole, 
the teacher should select the pupils who first 
master it or who know it already, and have 
them act as leaders, standing in front of the 
class as models, and acting as assistant in- 
structors when the event is actually taken 
up with the apparatus. 

Naturally, the teacher who has charge of 
the class in which these exercises are first 
introduced will have the heaviest task. Once 
the exercises are learned, however, the teach- 
er's work, under this system, becomes the 
lightest ever known. \Miat makes a teacher's 
work difficult is the need of holding the atten- 
tion of children on tasks not in themselves 
interesting, and the supplying of '' steam," — 
the stimulus that keeps the class alive and 
doing. In the physical training period or- 
ganized under this system, the children them- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 29 

selves take care of all that, the teacher's task 
becoming that of general supervision or the 
correction of bad form here and there. 



Running 

1. Potato Race. — Our original layout for 
the Potato Race consisted of four blocks 
placed eight feet apart, the farthest being 
50 feet from the starting line or basket. In 
placing the four blocks successively on the 
marks, or in bringing them in one by one, 
the runner covered a distance of 304 feet, ap- 
proximately 100 yards. We found, however, 
that when it came to a comparison of individ- 
ual records, the runner who brought the 
blocks in and dropped them in the basket 
had an advantage over the runner who must 
pick them out of the basket and put them 
on the marks. 

In order to make the conditions absolutely 
the same for all, we did away with the first 
and fourth blocks, leaving the second and 
third, which are respectively 34 feet and 42 
feet from the basket. The runner now starts 
from the basket, brings in one block and 



30 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

drops it in the basket; he brings in the sec- 
ond and touches the basket; replaces on the 
mark the second block, gets the first out 
of the basket and replaces that on the mark 
and returns, — his time being taken as he 
crosses the line. In case a Ijlock does not 
fall into the basket, the runner is not required 
to return and pick it up; he is, however, 
charged one second on his time, for a '' foul." 
In this way every runner does exactly the 
same thing, covers exactly the same ground, 
and the comparison of individual time is 
therefore fair. 

For the Junior Division, the starting line 
with the basket is 10 feet nearer the first 
block, the distances being respectively ^4 feet 
and 32 feet. Running each of these four 
times makes 224 feet, or a little over 70 
yards. All these marks are painted on the 
floor of the gymnasium and playground. 

Rubber-soled shoes are practically neces- 
sary in order to make good time in this 
event. 

The Potato Race is a splendid exercise. 
It is keenly exciting, and develops both speed 
and control. The effort of stooping to pick 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



31 



up the blocks exercises the big muscles of 
back and thigh, squeezes the viscera, compels 
deep breathing, and certainly stimulates the 
circulation. When all these results are se- 




Plate 



The Potato Race 



cured in an atmosphere of keen enjoyment, 
we are getting nearly 100 per cent, of phys- 
sical training value. 

Runners should learn not to overrun the 
marks. The trick is to stop short of the 



32 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

mark and, while stopping, reach for the block 
or the basket. Every foot saved counts. 

2. Sprints. — ''Class Running/' according 
to the method prescribed by the P. S. A. L.^ 
is conducted as follows: 

The class is lined up back of the starting 
line, the teacher standing at the finish line, 
watch in hand. The teacher gives the signal 
to start by snapping his handkerchief and the 
first boy starts. As he crosses the finish line, 
the teacher snaps his handkerchief again and 
the second boy starts, and so on. The teacher 
takes the total elapsed time from the instant 
the first runner starts until the last one 
has finished and, dividing by the number 
competing, gets the average time for the 
class. 

T\Tien it is desired to time each individual, 
a stop watch is very convenient, in fact 
almost necessary. When individual time is 
taken, the signal for the second runner to 
start is given only when the time of the first 
has been taken and recorded. For this pur- 
pose the teacher should have at his elbow a 
non-competing pupil to act as clerk. One 
great advantage of using a stop watch is 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 33 

that, in addition to its much greater ac- 
curacy, the teacher can have his eyes on 
the runner rather than on the watch. 




Plate 8. — Crouch Start 

One of the mistakes that we are prone to 
make is to suppose that boys and girls know 
how to run. A httle watching will convince 
one that they need to be taught how to do 
this as much as anything else. 



34 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

For the guidance of those who have not 
had training in sprint races, we have set 
down here seven points to be observed in 
running: 

1. Make a quick start. Practice the crouch 
position. {See Plate No. 8.) 

2. Dig the ground out from under you with 
half a dozen quick, choppy steps. 

3. Having thus gotten up some speed, 
straighten up and begin to run. 

4. Make your stride as long as you can 
without disturbing your balance; every inch 
added to your stride counts up wonderfully. 

5. Keep your head up and look straight 
before you. 

6. Keep your arms and legs moving 
straight forw^ard and back, like the driving 
rods of a locomotive. Any swaying from 
side to side is lost motion. 

7. Make yourself go faster and faster, 
flashing across the finish line at your highest 
possible speed. 

Any teacher who will closely observe his 
class with these points in mind can tell each 
pupil what is wrong with his running, just as 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 35 

surely as any professional trainer. He will 
see boys using a crouch start deliberately 
stand up and then begin to run, thus losing 
all the advantage of the crouch. 

Any one who has seen fast skaters racing 
has noticed the queer little steps with which 
they start digging their skates into the ice to 
get action before they straighten out and 
begin to skate. Sprinters must get that same 
idea of kicking the ground out from under them 
with half a dozen choppy steps as they spring 
forward from the crouch start. Then it is 
time to straighten up, and not before. One 
of the hardest faults to overcome is the per- 
sistent tendency to slow up when approach- 
ing the finish line. It is well to place some 
one about 30 feet beyond the finish line and 
to instruct your runners not to slow up till 
they have passed that person. Do not allow 
a crowd to gather around the finish line, as 
that increases the tendency to slow up. 

Hop, Step, and Leap 

One is likely to assume that boys know 
how to do this exercise. As a matter of fact. 



36 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

comparatively few do, and it must, therefore, 
be analyzed and taught -in advance as a class 
exercise. 

Draw on the floor two parallel lines about 
four feet apart. Tell the class that the space 
between the two lines is a stream of water. 
Have them rim in column around the floor 
and liojp over the stream. Then have them 
stejp over it, on the run; then jump over it, 
still running. Then have them do a hop and 
a step; a step and a jump; and, finally, the 
three together. 

There will usuallv be a few who will have 
difficulty in mastering the sequence. They 
must also be trained to gauge their prepara- 
tory run so as to strike the starting line with 
the foot they want to spring from. Assum- 
ing that this is the right foot, the boy must 
strike just back of the starting line with his 
right foot and make his spring, landing on 
his right foot again — which is a hop — spring- 
ing again immediately and landing on his 
left — which is a step — finally landing on 
both feet — which is a jump. To fall or step 
back at the finish of this exercise constitutes 
a foul. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 37 

The general tendency is to overdo it at 
the start by trying to make so much on the 
hop that the pupil loses control and has not 
spring enough in him for the step or the 
final effort in the jump. 

Several gymnasium mats measuring well 
ever 30 feet must be provided. In front of 
the first mat we place a board on which is 
tacked a broad piece of corrugated rubber 
with a white line painted across it. This is 
the starting line. The near edge of the board 
is bevelled down so as to avoid the danger of 
tripping. The corrugated rubber should meas- 
|ire about 2 feet square, and is to prevent 
flipping in the take-off. 

Broad Jump 

To secure good form in the Broad Jump 
is comparatively simple. Boys should be 
trained to take one upward stretch, balanc- 
ing an instant on their toes, gather them- 
selves together, arms extended back, and 
then to spring forward and upward with all 
the power of their legs, flinging the arms for- 
ward at the same time. The hardest thing to 



38 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



get them to understand is that, to get dis- 
tance, they must jump high. A projectile 
fired at an angle of 45 degrees travels farther 
than one fired higher or lower. We have 




Plate 10. — Broad Jump: Correct Landing 



found it useful to stand a twelve-inch board 
on edge about 2 feet from the starting line, 
so as to make the pupils jump high. They 
must learn, also, that to fall or step back 
after landing constitutes a foul. (See Plates 
Nos. 9 [page 49] a7id 10.) 

Attention is invited to our arrangement of 
the mat for jumping. (See Plate No. 9.) 
Attached to one end of a regular ten-foot 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 39 

gymnasium mat is a platform about 18 inches 
square. This is not a springboard, but simply 
a solid platform of two thicknesses of seven- 
eighths-inch board, covered with a square of 
ordinary rubber stair-tread. This gives the 
jumper a solid, non-slipping platform, about 
on a level with the mat. He is not allowed 
to use the edge of this board as a take-off^ 
but must jump from a line marked on the 
rubber. 

Measuring from the starting line, cross- 
lines are painted three inches apart on the 
mat, beginning with 4 feet 6 inches, the mini- 
mum for a '' Junior A." In this way it is not 
necessary to measure every jump, as the 
jumper is credited with the distance of the 
last line which he cleared. To make it easy 
to convert the distance into ''points," we use 
a stick with cross lines three inches apart, 
marked 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15. The line marked 
5 is placed alongside of the line on the mat 
that measures the minimum distance for the 
given classification. By this device of a mov- 
able bar, the person in charge can tell at a 
glance just how many points each jumper 
earns. 



40 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



High Jump 

For practice in the High Jump we provide 
two jumping stands, one set low for the httle 
fellows and one set for those who can jump 
higher. The squad breaks up automatically, 
each boy going to the bar that is placed at 
the height that suits him. A regular gym- 
nasium mat is placed behind each bar for 
the boys to land on, and a square yard of 
corrugated rubber is placed in front, from 
which they can ''take off" without danger of 
slipping. 

There are two general methods commonly 
used in the High Jump. The one is the side 
jump, in which the jumper approaches the 
bar from the right or the left and goes over 
sideways. This seems to be the natural way 
for boys to begin. The other is the straight 
jump, in which the jumper approaches the 
bar at right angles and shoots over feet first, 
the body being in an almost horizontal posi- 
tion. The form of the straight jump is quite 
difficult to master, but we believe it is worth 
while trying to acquire it. Authorities, how- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 41 

ever, differ. The straight jump is done as 
follows : 

Taking off, say, with the right foot, the 
left leg is thrown high and straight to the 
front, the right foot being then snapped over 
in front of the left knee, the body clearing 
the bar, feet first, in an almost horizontal 
position. It should be noted that this method 
necessitates raising the weight of the trunk 
only a foot or so, while the side jump requires 
lifting the body high enough to practically 
sit up on the bar. 

Four things must be observed by the boy 
who would master the straight jump: 

1. Not to run too far or too fast; to save 
his strength for the spring. 

2. To take off far enough from the bar to 
bring the left leg up straight, without kicking 
the bar. 

3. To snap the right leg over in front of 
the left, not behind it. 

4. Not to try for height until he has mas- 
tered the form, which may require weeks of 
practice. 



42 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



Chinning the Bar 

Chinning Bars have been put up in the 
doorway of every classroom, from 5A up. 
Boys are encouraged to take every oppor- 
tunity before, during, and between sessions, 
to practice chinning. At ten, eleven, and two 
o'clock the gongs ring, whereupon each class 
stops work, rises, opens the windows, and 
does the ''Two Minute Drill," the setting up 
exercise prescribed by the course of study. 
One squad may be allowed to practice chin- 
ning at each of these times. Individuals who 
have finished a piece of work and who are 
waiting for the rest of the class would be 
better employed practicing chinning than in 
looking about seeking whom they may annoy. 

A visitor timed a boy one day, finding that 
he left his seat, which was in the middle of 
the room, went to the door, chinned the bar 
thirteen times, returned to his seat and re- 
sumed his work in forty-three seconds. It 
acts as a stimulus to work when the boys 
know they may practice chinning if they 
finish their task before the others. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



43 




Plate 11. — Chinning: 
Good Form 



Plate 12. — Chinning: 
* Bad Form 



In chinning, the boy must first hang from 
the bar, arms and legs straight, then pull 
himself up so that his chin is just over the 
bar. It must be a dead pull-up, no snap, 
swing, or kick being allowed. Boys who are 
unable to pull themselves up at all should 
practice hanging from the bar and, if pos- 
sible, rope climbing. {See Plates Nos. 11 and 
12.) 



44 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Grip 

For exercise in strengthening the grip, we 
use a device consisting of two wooden handles 
joined at one end by a spiral spring. These 
come in several degrees of strength and can 
be bought for 25 cents the pair, — two sets, 
one for each hand, being a pair. We have 
three or four of these hanging on the walls 
of every classroom and several more among 
the apparatus in charge of the teachers of 
physical training. Boys and girls are e^- 
couraged to take every opportunity to prac- 
tice with these spring grips, so that when 
they are tested on the official recording in- 
strument, they may show an improvement 
over their previous record and so gain a few 
more points. {See Plates No. 13 and 14^.) 

That is the secret of the success of this 
system both with boys and with girls. They 
are working always for something definite. 
They are trying to beat the other fellow and 
they are trying to beat their own past per- 
formance. And there is no guessing about 
it. Everything is exact, definite, and abso- 
lutely fair. Children do not work for some 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



45 



indefinite, far-off good. They work for tan- 
gible results here and now, and this sys- 




Plate 13. — Grip Exerciser Plate 14. — Grip Testing 



tern gives them this definite something to 
work for. 

As stated in a previous chapter, boys and 
girls also practice with the grip exercisers 
when they have done their turn at the 
Potato Race and are waiting for their next 
event. 



46 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Shot Put 

This is one of the finest and most interest- 
ing exercises we have for boys. We wish it 
were possible to give them a real shot to 
put, as there are points about the form that 
can be taught only with the shot. But with 
large numbers it is impossible to use even 
the so-called ''in-door shot." We have sub- 
stituted a 6-pound medicine ball, on the side 
of which the makers have sewed a leather 
pocket into which the boy slips his fingers. 
This prevents the ball bouncing out of his 
hand when he takes the preparatory skip. 
Two or, better, three medicine balls should 
be provided. Two lines painted on the floor, 
seven feet apart, indicate the ''circle." Be- 
ginning at 16 feet from the start, lines are 
painted on the floor to mark the minimums, 
16, 18, 20, 23, 26; and then every two feet 
up to about 40 feet. Thus the squad leader 
can see at a glance how many feet each boy 
has "put." Toward the other end of the 
floor and a little to one side is another "circle" 
and a set of measuring lines running in the 
opposite direction. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



47 



Two groups can thus engage in putting the 
shot at the same time. Group one (half of 




Plate 15. — Shot Put: First Position 

a squad) puts down on one side; the ball is 
stopped and rolled over to one of the second 
group, who puts it back on the other side. 



48 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

So two or three balls are kept circulating 
and no time is lost sending them back to the 
starting line. • 

In putting the shot, the boy stands with 
his right foot on the rear one of the two lines 
indicating the seven-foot ''circle/' with the 
ball balanced on his right hand at his shoulder. 
{See Plate No. 15.) From a crouching posi- 
tion, weight entirely on the right leg, he 
takes a skip forward and then, as quick as a 
flash, he twists in the air, landing with his 
right foot just back of the front line and fac- 
ing in the opposite direction to that faced 
at ^starting. As he twists in the air, he 
shoots his hand out and up, straight from his 
shoulder, ''putting" the shot as far out as he 
possibly can. In this exercise also he should 
remember that a projectile fired at 45 degrees 
travels farthest. {See Plate No. 16.) 

Two mistakes are common in putting: 

1. Pausing after taking the skip and before 
doing the twist. This loses all the advantage 
gained from the skip. 

2. "Slinging" the ball, w^ith arm extended, 
instead of "putting" or pushing it straight 
out from the shoulder. {See Plate No. 17.) 




Plate 9. — Broad Jump: Ready 
{See pages 38-39.) 



49 



50 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

The former is an application of the catapult 
or sling, while ''Putting" is more like releas- 
ing a spiral spring that shoots straight for- 



Plate 16. — Shot Put: Second Position 

ward. If the boy will think of himself as a 
big spring, gather himself together in a 
crouching position and suddenly twist and 




Plate 17. — Shot Put: Bad Form 
51 



52 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



straighten out from his toes to his fing^i* tips, 
he will master the shot put. To step or fall 
forward over the line constitutes a foul. 




Plate 18. — Pitching Target 



Pitching 

On one side of the indoor playground where 
there are no windows to be broken we have 
two pieces of sail cloth 6 feet wide and 9 
feet long, hanging one in front of the other 
with about 12 inches space between. In the 
front piece, an opening 15 inches wide and 24 
inches high is cut, to represent the space over 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 53 

the plate, between the average boy's knee and 
shoulder, in which a ball must be placed to 
be called a ''strike." (See Plate No. 18.) 

We do not pretend by this device to teach 
''pitching/' — an art which consists in mislead- 
ing a batter by mixing curves, fast and slow 
balls. We claim only to train in the elemen- 
tary quality of control, in the ability to throw 
a ball straight, to put it where it ought to go. 
We allow 5 balls; if the 5 go through the 
opening, the pitcher makes a perfect score. 
But the balls must be thrown with some speed, 
not merely tossed in. In an official test each 
boy is given three balls to "warm up" before 
beginning to score. 

Basket Ball Goals 

In this exercise the only element is time. 
The boy or girl gets the ball for the number 
of seconds allowed for his group, and no one 
else must touch the ball during that time. 
He shoots as often as he can, recovers the 
ball and shoots again from any position he 
chooses. Scores of twelve and even fourteen 
goals in thirty seconds have been made re- 
peatedly by both boys and girls. 



54 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Combination Dip 

The Combination Dip is one of the best 
of all-around exercises. It brings into play 
the arms, shoulders, back, loins, and legs. 
Care should be taken to keep the hips high 
and the back flat, avoiding the ''sway- 
back" position. {See Plates 19 to ^4-0 It is 
done as follows: 

1. Place hands on floor the width of the 
shoulders apart, and assume a crouching 
position. 

2. Stretch the legs straight back, resting 
the weight on the hands and toes. 

3. Bend the arms until the chest — not 
the abdomen or knees — touches, or nearly 
touches the floor. 

4. Straighten the arms. 

5. Dip again. 

6. Straighten the arms again. 

7. Bring up the feet to the crouching posi- 
tion, as in 1. 

8. Stand erect. 
9-10. Rest. 

1. Begin again, repeating the 10 counts. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



55 




Plate 19. — Combination Dip: Taking Places 




Plate 20. — Combination Dip: Ready 

The ten counts constitute one Combination 
Dip. When the boys have mastered the de- 
tails, the leader should count at a uniform 



56 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 




Plate 21. — Combination Dip: First Count 





1 


^^^^fr< 


^^^^^^^^^^Mi-'m ... 


^ 


'*" „ 


...^ 


J 

1 




Wl-^ 


■PI 


mM 


■ 




isira^ilii; 




.4 


^ 



Plate 22. — Combination Dip: Second Count 

rate of about forty to the minute, emphasiz- 
ing the odd numbers. 

In practicing this and Trunk Lifting, as a 
class exercise, sheets of oak tag or wrapping 
paper should be spread on the floor as shown 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



57 







w .«^ 








t 




Cijiy^^ T^ ^^ __^BBi 






felt 


*- mSk 


|i 


,^ 


m^M 


,■,,„,„, |,r„„.,„ni„| 




'wmm 


— 


1 




1 


1 


1 


% 


»M^^J^^^^ ^B 


1 


1 


1^ 




' 


f 


H 


V 





Plate 23. — Combination Dip: Third Count 

in Plates 19-23. In testing, we use wooden 
frames, consisting of two handles nailed to 




Plate 24. — Testing the Combination Dip 



58 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



crosspieces, about the width of a boy's 
shoulders apart. Testing the Conibination 
Dip may be made more definite by the simple 
expedient of placing on this frame a regu- 
lar platform bell, which the boy must ring 
by pressing on it with his chest at each dip. 
{See Plate ^^.) 

Trunk Lifting 

Trunk Lifting consists in lying flat on the 
back, arms folded across the chest, and then 



^Mttm^ 



Plate 25. — Trunk Lifting: First Position 

raising one's self to a sitting position with- 
out any assistance whatever from the arms, 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



59 



This is an exercise that strengthens the ab- 
dominal muscles supporting the viscera, and 
it is very valuable as it takes care of a much 
neglected set of muscles. It seems difficult, 
almost impossible, at first; but practice makes 




Plate 26. — Trunk Lifting: Second Position 



perfect, and the flexibility it produces repays 
the effort of mastering it. We recommend 
this and the Combination Dip to adults 
who show a tendency to stiffness or undue 
corpulence. 

In practice, one half of the class holds down 
the feet of the other half. The arms are 
folded across the chest, the back is arched, 
and the head held erect. In this way good 



60 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

posture is maintained, while at the same time 
the muscles of the abdomen and upper legs 
are given some strenuous exercise. {See Plates 
25-26.) 

Chest Expansion 

As previously explained, exercise in deep 
breathing is taken during the Two Minute 




Plate 27. — Testing Chest Expansion 

Drill in the classroom and at the beginning of 
the physical training lesson, before the dust is 
stirred up. 

In testing, the tape is draw^n around the 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 61 

chest helow the shoulder blades and below 
the pectoral muscles, at right angles to the 
spine, on what is called the ''ninth rib." 
{See Plate 27,) This does away with spread- 
ing the shoulder blades and ^contracting the 
chest muscles which have nothing to do with 
inflating and expanding the lungs. 

Baseball Throwing or Pitching, 
FOR Girls 

The target for girls consists of heavy canvas 
6 feet by 9 feet, like the one for the boys. 
Painted on it is a series of three rings, the 
middle one, or ''bull's-eye,'' being 20 inches 
in diameter; the outer rings being 10 inches 
wide all around. In the bull's-eye is painted 
a "5"; in the first ring, a "3"; in the second 
ring, a "2"; outside the rings, but on the 
canvas, counts 1. {See Plate 28.) 

Girls naturally throw a ball from the elbow. 
It is hard to get them to swing the arm and 
throw from the shoulder. Practicing a full 
circle forward, and a small circle back of the 
head with an Indian club will help them to get 
the idea of the full arm movement necessary 
in throwing a ball. 



62 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



The player should stand with the left foot 
forward at the line marked on the floor for 
her group, the weight thrown back, the right 





^ 


^". # ^f^:-t 


_ 










^^m^- ^ [ . 


1 



Plate 28. — Target for Baseball Throwing 



leg bent; then swing the arm down and 
back at full length, execute a small circle 
back of her head, and shoot the ball straight 
forward, throwing the weight forward upon 
the left leg. This should be taken with the 
class as a mimetic exercise until they get the 
swing of it. 

Five balls are thrown in practice. In test- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 63 

ing, three are allowed for ''warming up" 
before scoring. 

Serving in Tennis 

Here, again, we are not really teaching 
the art of serving, which, as in pitching, con- 
sists in misleading one's opponent. We are 




Plate 29. — Serving in Tennis: The Net 

simply training in the very elementary thing 
of placing a tennis ball in a given space. And 
one who watches a class of beginners will 
realize that even this is quite a contract. 

Form should be insisted upon, to a certain 
extent at least. The player should be obliged 



64 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



to grasp the racket near the end of the han- 
dle and to swing at the ball thrown well above 




Plate 30. — Serving in Tennis: 1 



the head. Lobbing, or pushing the ball with 
racket grasped midway of the handle, should 
not be allowed, (See Plates 29-31.) 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



65 



A broad line is painted on the floor 39 feet 
from the wall; smaller lines three feet apart 
indicate the positions at which the different 




Plate 31. — Serving in Tennis: 2 

groups stand when serving. Five balls are 
allowed each server. In an official test, three 
balls are allowed for practice. 

Basket Ball Throw (for Distance) 

Throwing the Basket Ball corresponds, for 
girls, to the Shot Put, for boys; but with 
the distinction that the girls sling the ball, 



66 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

holding it balanced on the hand at full arm's 
length. Standing in a 6-foot circle, left foot 
advanced, weight on right leg, right knee 




Plate 32. — Basket Ball Throw: 1 

bent, ball resting on hand and forearm, the 
player suddenly swings around, pivoting on 
the left foot, throwing the weight forward, 
and slings the ball forward and upward with 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 67 

all her force. The distance covered by the 
ball depends on the angle at which the ball 




Plate 33. — Basket Ball Throw: 2 

is thrown and the speed with which the girl 
swings around. As in the Shot Put, to step 
or fall forward out of the circle constitutes 
a foul. {See Plates 32-33.) 



68 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Putting in Golf 

An authority on golf says that 75 per cent, 
of the shots in a game are played on the 




Plate 34. — Putting in Golf 



putting green. Supposing they were only 50 
per cent., the importance of this part of the 
game is evident; yet among players in gen- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 69 

era! 5 practice in this element is very much 
neglected. 

Putting requires care and concentration. 
It is a serious breach of etiquette, on the 
links, to speak or to move when another is 
about to drive or put. This should be im- 
pressed upon the girls and should become a 
habit with them when practicing these shots. 

Putting consists of ''sweeping" the ball 
into the hole. The ''putter" should be 
held so that the face of it is at right angles 
to the line leading to the hole. It should 
be drawn back a little way and then swept 
forward straight toward the hole, keeping the 
face of the club always at right angles to the 
line. Having sighted the hole and got your 
club in position, the one thing to do is to 
"keep your eye on the ball." Remember that 
this is the first and last commandment in 
playing golf. {See Plate 31^.) 

Driving in Golf 

This is perhaps the most difficult exercise 
of all to master. To drive perfectly, one 
must learn to hold the club so that the face 
of it strikes the ball at right angles to the 




Plate 35. — Addressing the 
Ball 



Plate 36. — At the Top of 
THE S^t:ng 




'i^LATE 37. — At the End of Plate 38. 

the ST\^XG 

70 



— Bad Form 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



71 



line of direction, as in putting. One must 
learn to swing the head of the club through 
perfect arc, ''following through" after 



a 





Plate 39. — Driving in Golf: The Cage 
Closed 



hitting the ball, to avoid ''pulling" or "slic- 
ing." One must learn to keep one's head 
always in the same relative position to the 
ball, at all points of the swing. This is not 



72 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

as easy as it seems. And, above all, learn 
to ''keep your eye on the ball!" 

The natural tendency is to look up to see 
where the ball is going. But one must learn 




Plate 40. — Driving in Golf: The Cage in Use 

to trust in Providence and look for the ball 
only after the swing is complete. ''Keep 
your eye on the ball'' means keep your eye 
on the spot where the ball is (or was) until 
you have finished your swing. (See Plates 
35-38.) 

We place the ball on a thick jute door- 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 73 

mat which acts very much hke a good piece of 
turf. The player stands on a platform 3 feet 
square, of |-inch board covered with rubber. 
The one thing to guard against is the danger 
of other girls getting behind the player. A 
golf player is like a mule in that the only 
safe place is in front of him. To make it 
impossible for any one to be struck by the 
swinging club, we place an ordinary clothes- 
horse back of the player, leaving only one 
entrance to the cage open. The squad leaders 
are instructed to allow only one player to 
enter the cage at any one time. When the 
player has driven the number of balls allowed 
her, she must collect them, put them in a 
tray alongside the mat, and then hand the 
driver to the next player. {See Plates 39-^0.) 



IV. THE CLASS ATHLETICS SYSTEM 

Rational Athletics is based on, and 
was originally developed from, the system 
of ''Class Athletics" conducted by the Pub- 
lic Schools Athletic League. In 1910 we 
began experimenting in an effort to extend 
and improve this system. In 1911, the 
Board of Education published an illustrated 
pamphlet describing the work in ''general 
athletics" then being done in P. S. 2, and 
advocating its adoption in all the schools. 
Nothing was done, however, so we went 
on developing our ideas in our own school, 
regardless of whether or not others followed 
our example. 

We still believe that "Class Athletics" 
can be made a w^onderful agency for good, 
and we have here set down brieflv certain 
suggestions which we have, from time to time, 
offered for the extension and development of 
the system. 

Competitions in "Class Athletics" are con- 

74 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 75 

ducted by the P. S. A. L. every year at 
stated times; contests in Standing Broad 
Jump being held in the Fall; in Chinning the 
Bar, in the Winter; and in Running (sprints), 
in the Spring. Each school does its own 
training, conducts its own tests, and sends a 
report to the League stating the average 
performance of 80 per cent, of the register 
of its best class in each year (5th to 8th) in 
the event called for at that time. The re- 
ports of the various competing schools are 
compared, and an official of the League 
visits those schools claiming the highest 
averages. If, in the official test, the record of 
the class claiming the highest average equals 
or exceeds the record previously sent in, that 
class is declared the winner. If it falls below, 
a class in the school which claimed the next 
highest average is tested, and so on, the one 
getting the highest average on the official 
test being declared the winner. 

While using practically the same method. 
Rational Athletics introduces ' four decided 
changes, all of which we believe are improve- 
ments : 

First: As conducted by the League, one 



76 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

class in each school year is tested, — four in 
all. We make the competition between classes 
in the same grade or half year, thus making 
eight grades in all, 5A to 8B (first haK of the 
Fifth Year, to and including the second haK 
of the Eighth Year). By the former method 
the A classes (first haK of each year) are com- 
peting with B classes (second half of same 
year), that is, with boys six months older who 
have six months' more training. Naturally, 
therefore, the B classes have the advantage. 
We make the competition between classes of 
the same grade, thus giving the A classes an 
equal chance to win a trophy. 

Second: As conducted by the League, one 
class in each year is selected, trained, and 
tested. Now there may be five, there may 
be twenty, classes in the same year in a given 
school. These other classes may, and fre- 
quently do, take little or no part in the train- 
ing. Moreover, it is quite possible to make 
up classes in such a way as to put all the 
best athletes in one class. Naturally, that 
class would be most likely to win the trophy. 
We avoid both of these objectionable points 
by basing the competition on 80 per cent, of 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 77 

the register of all the classes in the same 
grade, no matter how few or how many there 
may be. Reports are sent in for each class; 
each class is trained and keeps on training. 
When the official test is to be made, one class 
in each grade is selected by lot under the direc- 
tion of the official tester. Consequently all 
the classes have to be ready and no advantage 
is gained by "framing up" a class of athletes. 

Third: As conducted by the League, boys 
taking part in class athletics concentrate on 
one exercise for two or three months; for 
example, on Broad Jumping from September 
to December; Chinning from December to 
March; Running from March to June. 

We felt that this was a rather meager pro- 
gram and that it was open to objection be- 
cause it led to boys specializing in one thing 
for three months, exercising only one set of 
muscles, and then dropping that exercise 
until next year. We, therefore, began to 
extend the program by adding one exercise 
each season; for example: 

Fall: Broad Jump and Combination Dip; 
Winter: Chinning and Hop, Step, and Leap; 
Spring: Running and Trunk Lifting. 



78 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

A little consideration of the above list will 
show that the exercises are grouped so as to 
bring into play different sets of muscles and 
that, taken altogether, they at least approach 
a well-balanced scheme. 

Fourth : xAs conducted by the League, Class 
Athletics contests occur three times a year, 
— once in the Fall Term and twice in the 
Spring Term. We felt that this was once too 
often; that the plan did not adapt itself 
very well to our two-term school year. So 
we finally dropped one contest and extended 
our program still farther until it included 
twelve exercises for boys and nine for girls, 
from which neighboring schools may select, 
say, three, — the contests to be held about the 
end of the fourth month of each term. 

To sum up, briefly, the system of Rational 
Athletics offers, in place of Class Athletics 
as conducted by the P. S. A. L., the following: 

1. Contests between classes of the same 
grade only. 

2. Eighty per cent, of the register of all 
the classes in that grade as contestants; the 
classes w^hich are to be tested to be selected 
by lot at the time the test occurs. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 79 

3. Contests to consist of three exercises, to 
be selected and agreed upon at the beginning 
of the term. 

4. Contests to take place once only in 
each term, as near the end as possible with- 
out interfering with examinations, etc. 

Two neighboring schools could easily con- 
duct a dual meet on a Field Day, by agreeing 
in advance on a set of exercises, by putting 
in the field 80 per cent, of their boys, and 
by awarding the victory to the school winning 
the majority of the events. Properly or- 
ganized and managed, the boys of two good- 
sized schools can be put through a set of, say, 
three events, in a little over two hours. 

In this, the simplest form of Rational 
Athletics, there is no point system, no mini- 
mum standard, no individual classification. 
A limit is put to Chinning, Combination Dip, 
Trunk Lifting and Deep Breathing, as we do 
not consider it desirable to carry any one of 
these exercises too far. With these excep- 
tions, the result is determined by adding the 
actual performance of 80 per cent, of the 
register and dividing by the number compet- 
ing, to get the average. This kind of athletics 



80 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

is, after all, the only kind that is really worth 
while, since it reaches the great majority and 
brings all the benefits of athletic competition 
to those who need it most. 

We recommend the following program, 
which introduces only two new exercises, the 
apparatus for which is easily obtainable if 
not already on hand: 

Boys 

Fall Term Spring Term 

Running Running 

(Potato Relay) (Class Running) 

Chinning the Bar Combination Dip 

Standing Broad Jump High Jump 

This is a form of inter-school competition to 
which no objection against girls taking part 
can be raised, since the contests take place 
entirely within the school. We therefore 
recommend the following program for gen- 
eral adoption: 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



81 



Girls 



Fall Term 
Running 

(Shuttle Relay) 
Basket Ball Throw 

(for distance) 
Serving in Tennis 



Spring Term 
Running 

(Class Running) 
Pitching Baseball 

(at target) 
Basket Ball Goals 



V. THE ORGANIZATION OF 
MONTHLY INTER-CLASS MEETS 

The first thing to do is to organize an 
Athletic Association, as provided for in the 
Bv-Laws of the Board of Education. Dues 
of five cents a month will provide a liberal 
fund for all expenses. In fact, it is feasible 
to assess dues of five cents monthly — as low 
as twenty, or even fifteen cents for the term, 
if paid in advance. 

Having formed an Athletic Association, 
arrange a series of four monthly Inter-Class 
Athletic Meets to be held in the gymnasium, 
or school yard, — outdoors, whenever possi- 
ble. Select an interesting program of events 
and announce that only those classes that 
have 80 per cent, or more of paid-up member- 
ship in the Athletic Association will be allowed 
either to compete or to loitness the games. 
\Mien there are several classes in each grade 
it is well to confine the competition to classes 
of the same grade. But this is not necessary 

82 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 83 

nor always practicable. At any rate, it is de- 
sirable that classes of the Fifth and Sixth 
years compete in one cycle called "Junior/' 
and the classes of the Seventh and Eighth 
Years in another, called ''Senior.'' A set of 
simple felt banners, lettered ''Inter-Class 
Champions," to be awarded to the winning 
classes in the "Meet" to be held during the 
following month, will furnish added incentive 
for keen competition. 

From the list of events described in Chap- 
ter III, an interesting and varied program 
may be arranged for each month. The 
organization is simple. Two things are re- 
quired; namely, to so arrange that as many 
events as possible are going on at the same 
time, and to have lists prepared (preferably, 
on stiff cardboard) giving (a) Date; (6) 
Event; (c) Class; (d) Register; (e) 80 per 
cent, of Register; (/) Names of all on Regis- 
ter (those excluded being plainly marked). 
(See Plate U.) 

In all events except Class Running and 
Potato or Flag Relay Races, all members of 
the class who are not excluded by the doctor's 
orders should be allowed to compete. Every 



84 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



INTER-CLASS MEETS 



Term, 191.-,„Clas8.. 



Room , 



^ M 



.^.-^TeacheT 



KAMES 
BOYS* 






FIRST MONTH 
Reg -wji.^ No.Comp., 
Event 



SECOND MONTH 
Event... 



THIRD MONTH 

Reg-,— UaCompv. 

Event- „.. 



FOURTH MONTH 
Reg. — — „. Wo Comp_ 
Event 



Plate 41. — Score Card 
Monthly Inter-Class Meets 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 85 

one should get a chance, if at all possible. In 
computing the average of the class, however, 
we strike out the records of the poorest per- 
formers, counting the records of only 80 per 
cent, in each class. This 80 per cent, rule 
should be strictly interpreted. For instance, 
a class of forty may reject 8, counting 32. A 
class of 45 may reject 9, counting 36. But a 
class of 44 may reject only 8, counting 36. 
We do not estimate fractions of a boy. 

In the Class Running or any form of Relay 
Race, the class team must be reduced to 80 
per cent, before starting, as individual rec- 
ords are not generally taken. The total 
elapsed time, divided by the number com- 
peting, constitutes the class average. The 
beauty of this system is that it makes very 
little difference how large or how small a 
class may be. The basis of comparison is 
always the same, namely 80 per cent, of the 
register on the day of the Meet. 

It is feasible, of course, and very desirable 
to time each runner separately with a stop 
watch. It adds to the interest when each 
one knows his own time. In that case all may 
be allowed to run, quite as in other events. 



86 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

A little study of the diagrams on pages 91 
and 93 will show an Inter-Class Meet in the 
most difficult organization possible; namely, 
a mixed school, in which thirty-two groups, 
representing sixteen classes, are taking part 
in eight different events at one and the same 
time. A program of this kind is usually 
finished in about an hour. Taking the last 
period on one Friday afternoon a month, 
finishing about 3:30, you have an event 
that the children will look forward to with 
great pleasure and which the teachers cannot 
consider a great hardship. 

Suggestions . 

1. The organization of an Athletic Asso- 
ciation should be as democratic as possible. 
The election of officers is unnecessary, but the 
election of squad leaders and class delegates 
is very important. 

The class delegate is the one who collects 
the dues and turns them over to the Treas- 
urer, — usually a teacher who is sufficiently 
interested to take the necessary trouble to 
keep the accounts. The class delegate may 
or may not be a squad leader. The selection 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 87 

of squad leaders has already been explained 
under ''Organization of the Physical Train- 
ing Period." 

2. Meetings of Class Delegates and Squad 
Leaders should be held occasionally to dis- 
cuss questions of program, scoring, handi- 
capping, trophies, etc. The success of the 
system depends on keeping close to the chil- 
dren, consulting their preferences, getting 
their ideas and acting upon them, as far as 
may be done without losing sight of the aim 
in view; namely, all-round physical training. 
The program of exercises should in all cases 
be a well balanced one. And that is where 
the judgment of the Director must correct 
and guide the impulses of the children. 

3. Class Delegates must be trained to 
collect dues and take them to the Treasurer 
at stated times. Membership cards should 
be provided, which the Treasurer will stamp 
or punch as dues are paid. It is well worth 
while to make a substantial reduction in 
dues when the term is paid in advance, in 
order to save the trouble of collecting the 
nickels each month and keeping the accounts 
straight. 



88 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

4. The program of events for a monthly 
Meet should be selected from the exercises 
taught in the regular physical training period. 
It should be announced about a week in ad- 
vance of the Meet, so that classes may have 
a little time for preparation, but not more 
than a week ahead, because one of the aims 
of the system is to avoid specialization and 
to work always for all-round physical develop- 
ment. 

Even where it is deemed advisable to add 
a few individual events to the Inter- Class 
contests, to give the star athletes a chance to 
scintillate, these events should be selected 
from the regular physical training program, 
and they should be announced at the same 
time as the Inter-Class events, — being con- 
sidered merely as an added attraction, a 
sop to the hero-worship instinct, which has 
been so overdeveloped in athletics. 

5. Some of the exercises described in sub- 
sequent chapters call for special apparatus 
not provided by the Board of Education. 
But a healthy athletic association, based on 
regular monthly meets in which every one 
takes an active part, will soon provide all 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 89 

the apparatus necessary. When we started 
this system we were very careful to keep 
down expenses, but once having aroused the 
interest of the children by providing them, one 
and all, with an opportunity to engage in real 
athletic competition, the question of expense 
ceased to be a problem. Given a program 
of events that appeals to all, the Athletic 
Association will finance the game. Starting 
with a selection of exercises that require little 
or no special apparatus, the program can be 
gradually enlarged as funds become available. 
6. It should be clearly understood from 
the beginning that this system applies to 
boys and girls alike. The girls have their 
own athletic association precisely as have 
the boys, and they are in every way on ex- 
actly the same footing. The girls do not com- 
pete against the boys, but in mixed classes 
the points won by the boys added to the 
points won by the girls constitute the class 
score. Naturally, the list of events for girls 
differs somewhat from that for boys. In 
the regular physical training period boys 
and girls practice separately; but in the 
monthly meets we have found it entirely 



90 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

practicable to have the events for boys and 
girls going on in the school yard at the same 
time. The interest in the events is so general 
that there is little or no evidence of undue 
interest in one another. That, however, is a 
mere detail. 

7. The following list of exercises has been 
thoroughly tried out and found to be entirely 
satisfactory: 

For Boys and Girls 

Class running, Potato, Flag, or Shuttle Relays 
Shooting Goals with Basket Ball 
Pitching Baseball at Target 
Chest Expansion 
Strength of Grip 

For Boys Only For Girls Only 

Standing Broad Jump Basket Ball Throw 
Running High Jump {for distance) 

Hop, Step, and Leap Serving in Tennis 
Chinning the Bar (placing the ball 

Combination Dip within a given space) 

Trunk Lifting Driving in Golf 

Shot Put Putting in Golf 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



91 



The exercises in the last hst are, of course, 
just as appropriate for boys; we reserve them 
for the girls simply because the boys, as it is, 
have so much more on their program. The 



fB^ 



7B' 



^B^ 



± o- 



BV 



^A' 



± o- 



?A* 



^ o- 



:* O- 



7A^o»d7A^ 



Sh' 



5A' 



■^ Q- 



o JB^ 



i Or 



5A' 











J^ 


fiQ 








6B^ 








,3 

, 6A' w 










6A^ 






Sjic^d <JA' 










J 




6A' 




V 

- —1 








. 6B' 

. O 














1 rt 


33 




' 6A' 







Plate 42. — Floor Plan: Potato Race 

Combination Dip (modified) and Trunk Lift- 
ing are excellent exercises for girls, also, but 
for the difficulty of keeping their clothes clean. 
8. The following program is typical, giving 
the events, the classes to compete in each 
event, and the teachers assigned to take 
charge of each group. The diagrams show 



92 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



PROGRAM AND ASSIGNMENTS 



MONTHLY INTER -CLASS MEET 

Friday, February 23, 1917 

AT 2:20 P.M. 



Boys 


Girls 


8B vs 8A — High Jump 


Pitching 


Mr. C 


Miss C 


Mr. S 


MissH.S 


7B vs 7A Combination 
Dip 


Basketball Throw 


IVTico TT 


MissY 


IVllSo Jl 


MissMcN 


6B vs 6A — Basketball 




Goals 
Mr. R 


Grip 
Miss K 


MissC 


MissK 


Miss M 




Mrs. W 


Chest Expansion 


5B vs 5A — Chinning 


1 Miss C 


MissL 


Miss S 


Mr. C , 


in general dheirge 


Mr. F , 


clerk of course 


Miss M. S 


., Overflow, Room 20 ^ 



1 Pupils who are not members of the Athletic Association 
have a study period in charge of a teacher. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



93 



the position of each group in the school yards. 
Generally speaking, the classes competing in 
each event form a hollow square about the 
position assigned to them. (See Plates 42-J^3.) 



XBi 



7B' 



/A' 



7A' 



■^ a 
-> n 



Combination Dip 



upland t^ 



?^^and^W 



<- 



-High Jump 







»o "o 'o »^ 

4^ 4^ N^ \r 


L 


Chinning 



6B^ 



6A^ 



J* B'- GIRLS 



BASKET Ball Goals 



o 



o 



JB^ 



5A' 



JA^ 



OQ 



rf ^ 



M A/ 



6B' 



6A* 



D D 

Strength of grip 



Chest Expansion 

Plate 43. — Floor Plan: Field Events 

The arrangement here shown is for a meet 
in the winter, held entirely indoors. Twenty- 
four groups compete in the inner playground, 
eight in the gymnasium upstairs. When the 
weather permits, we use the outer yards and 
the street, having no classes in the gymnasium. 



VI. THE POINT SYSTEM AND 
INDIVIDUAL CLASSIFICATION 

Rational Athletics is a system of phys- 
ical training through athletics. That is, it 
is a carefully arranged series of exercises 
designed to give a good all-round physical 
development. And it is more than this. It 
is designed to give every boy and girl at 
least elementary training in some wholesome 
outdoor sports which they will be likely to 
follow up after they leave school. It is an 
application of the doctrine of interest to the 
problem of physical training; an attempt to 
substitute for formal gymnastic work, which 
does not appeal to our young people, a sys- 
tem of exercises that will give them better 
results and a lot of fun at the same time. It 
is, moreover, an attempt to substitute an 
all-round training for the ''specialization'' 
that is so common in athletics to-day. 

In the preceding chapters we have de- 
scribed Rational Athletics in its simplest 
forms; first, as an interpretation of the 

94 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 95 

course of study; second, as an improved 
system of "Class Athletics" for competition 
between schools; and, third, as a method of 
conducting Inter-Class Athletics within the 
school. Nothing has been said, so far, about 
a point system, minimum or maximum limits, 
grade standards, individual classifications, or 
individual record cards. In an earlier book 
on this subject (Rational Athletics for Boys^ 
1915) the impression was unfortunately given 
that there was, necessarily, a great deal of 
complicated bookkeeping which, naturally, 
caused many principals and teachers to hesi- 
tate in undertaking it at all. The preceding 
chapters of this book, however, show how any 
or all of the exercises described mav be used 
with great benefit and enjoyment without at all 
going into the point system or the keeping of 
individual records. Our advice to any school 
taking up the system is to begin as described 
in the preceding chapters. After the chil- 
dren have become somewhat proficient in a 
number of the exercises, and after the teachers 
have acquired some experience in handling 
large numbers of competitors in a reasonable 
amount of time, the advantage of the point 



96 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

system and the individual classification will 
become apparent. It will then be compara- 
tively easy to introduce them. 

The Point System 

As previously explained, the system of 
Rational Athletics began as a development 
of Class Athletics. Consequently, in apply- 
ing it, we thought always in terms of classes 
or grades. A set of minimum-maximum 
standards was worked out, based on what an 
average boy in a given grade should be able 
to do after a reasonable amount of practice. 
This method worked well enough for a time, 
but before very long it proved unsatisfactory 
for two reasons: 

1. It sometimes proved unfair in inter- 
class competitions, as the following typical 
instance will show. It happened one term, 
that the boys in our 8 A classes were bigger 
and stronger than the boys in the 8B classes. 
In addition to this natural handicap, the 
grade system further handicapped the SB 
boys, thus making the contest a walk-over 
for the 8A's. This sort of thing is likely to 
occur at any time, and is very discouraging. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 97 

2. It is sometimes unfair to the individual. 
For instance: A bright young boy in an 
8B class was compelled to meet standards 
arranged for boys much bigger and older than 
he, whereas a big over-age fellow in a class 
with younger pupils found the grade stan- 
dards so easy that the whole thing was, a joke, 
so far as he was concerned. Under these cir- 
cumstances the little fellows lost interest be- 
cause they felt themselves outclassed, and the 
big fellows, because the work was too easy. 

In view of these unfortunate results we 
realized that we must find a system of handi- 
capping that took into consideration the age, 
grade, height, and weight of each pupil. This 
seemed such a complicated matter that we 
hesitated to attempt it. But one day the 
solution came like a flash, and to-day any boy 
or girl in our Fifth to Eighth Year classes can 
tell you to what athletic classification he or 
she belongs, and just what his or her handi- 
caps are in each event. It is all printed on 
the membership card of the Athletic Associa- 
tion which each boy and girl carries. (See 
Plate Jf^4') The solution as worked out is as 
follows : 



98 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



REVISED CLASSIFICATION FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 







JUNIOR 


DIVlSION-5-6 YEARS 




Exponents 


4 


5 


6 7 


8 


9 


Grade 




5A 


5B 6A 


6B 




Age — up to 


10' 


lO'l— 11' 


ll'l-6 ir7-12' 


12'1— 13' 


13'1 or over 


Height— up to 


4'2 


4'3— 5 


4'6— 8 4'9— 11 


5'-5'2 


5'3 " '• 


Weight— up to 


64. 


65—74 


75—84 85—94 


95—104 


105 '« " 






SENIOR DIVISION-7-8 YEARS 




Exponents 


4 


5 


6 7 


8 


9 


Grade 




7A 


7B 8A 


8B 




Age— up to 


12' 


12'1— 13' 


13'l-6 137-14' 


14'1— 15' 


15'1 or over 


Height— up to 


4'4 


4'5— 8 


4'9— 5' 5'1— 3 


5'4— 6 


5'7 *• " 


Weight— up to 


74 


75—89 


90—104 105—119 


120—129 


130 '« «• 


EXAMPLE— Boy in 5 


B— Exponent for Grade 


6i^ (see top line 


) 






Age 10 


'-6 " " Age _ 


Sk 





Height 410 " " Height 7 

Weight 84 lb. " ^ " Weight_6 

Sum of Exponents 24 — "Class B." 

CLASS A B C D E 

(Same for Senior or Jun. Div.) up to 21 22-25 26-29 30-33 34 or over 



ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION 
PUBLIC SCHOOL 33, THE BRONX 

MEMBERSHIP TICKET 



Name. 
CI „... 



CL 



., Rm , ^..Term, ig. 

^ Rm. , Term, lo. 



ATHLETIC CLASS 

(Indicate by check, 4/ 

A, B. C, D, E. 

junior Senior 



SEPT. 


OCT. 


ISOV. 


DEC. 


JAN. 


FEB. 


MAK. 


APR. 


MAV 


JUNE 



Plate \\. — Revised Classification and Membership Card 
(Reverse of Plates 45-46) 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 99 

Revised Classification 

1. As previously suggested, the classes are 
divided into two groups, one comprising the 
Fifth and Sixth Year classes, called ''Juniors/' 
the other, the Seventh and Eighth Year 
classes, called ''Seniors." The exercises are, 
with a few exceptions, the same for both, but 
the competition is more intensive when con- 
fined to classes more nearly of an age. 

2. The "exponents'' are arbitrary numbers 
used to express the relationship between the 
various factors of grade, age, height and 
weight. They correspond roughly to the four 
grades in each group, — one "4," for under- 
age^ under-height, under- weight children; and 
one "9," for over-age, over-height, over- 
weight children. 

3. The first item in an individual record 
is "Grade," and this goes under the expon- 
ent 5 for 5 A (Junior) or 7 A (Senior), and so 
on up to 6B or 8B. 

4. Age, in years and months, taken at the 
beginning of the term, in September and in 
February, is a matter of school record. The 
division into groups is based on the various 



100 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

interpretations of ''legal/' ''normal/' and 
"over-age" pupils. It represents a com- 
promise between the extremes and, we be- 
lieve, will be found generally fair. 

5. Height and w^eight are also taken at the 
beginning of each term, in September and 
in February, and, together with the other 
factors. Grade and Age, determine the in- 
dividual pupil's athletic classification for 
the whole of the respective term. A spring 
balance, with handles, hung in the classroom 
doorway, is used for weighing. To obtain 
height, the pupils back up against a movable 
scale, allowance being made for the height 
of the shoe heel, so that an entire class is 
weighed and measured for the term in about 
ten minutes. 

6. Having thus determined these four fac- 
tors in each case, it is an easy matter to 
determine the classification. Indeed, the chil- 
dren can work it out for themselves, but it 
is well to have their results checked up by 
the teacher. It is a good lesson in arithmetic, 
but like any other test, should be carefully 
verified. It looks much more formidable than 
it really is. In taking height and weight, 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 101 

fractions less than one half are disregarded, 
but one half or over counts as one. 

7. The example which follows illustrates 
the method and applies to Junior and Senior 
alike. Given grade, age, height, and weight 
for each pupil, a glance at the schedule will 
give the proper ''exponent" for each of these 
four factors. Adding the four ''exponents" 
gives the "sum of exponents" which deter- 
mines the classification, each group, Junior 
and Senior, being divided into five classes 
called A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. "A" 
represents the midgets; "E" the over-age, 
over-developed; while "B" "C" and "D" 
will be found to include the great majority. 

8. It is worthy of note that the classifica- 
tion system is the same for boys and girls. 
One would naturally surmise that boys would 
be taller and heavier than girls, as they gen- 
erally are, later in life. But after carefully 
plotting the height and w^eight figures in 
hundreds of cases, we found that we could 
not tell which group stood for boys, and 
which for girls, without looking at the top 
line where this fact was recorded. As is well 
known, girls mature about two years earlier 



102 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

than boys. Because of this fact, girls of the 
age usually found in the last four years of 
the elementary school are, on the average, 
so far ahead in the stage of adolescence 
that they average in height and weight prac- 
tically the same as the boys. 

9. On the back of the same card we have 
printed the list of events, with the handi- 
caps for each class, both Junior and Senior 
(See Plates JfO and Jf6,) By consulting this 
card each boy and girl knows immediately 
the standards he must meet in each event. 
The establishment of this classification sys- 
tem produced a very evident feeling of satis- 
faction among the boys and girls. The bright 
little ones who were away beyond their grade 
felt that they were not being penalized for 
having brains. On the other hand, the big, 
husky, below-grade fellow^s found themselves 
matched against boys of their own kind, 
regardless of scholarship. The standards 
adopted for each group are the result of a 
careful study of results attained. They may 
have to be modified slightly in time; but we 
are inclined to believe that the changes, if 
any, will be very slight. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 103 

It must be borne in mind, however, that 
the pupils from whom these results were ob- 
tained have had the benefit of training in 
most of these events for two years or more. 
A school beginning this work would probably 
find these standards too high. It is quite 
feasible for them all to be lowered one step 
by dropping ''Class B" down to the ''A'' 
standards and making a still lower standard 
for ''A" pupils. 

10. In conducting an inter-class meet, on 
the basis of the individual classification, 
which is, after all, the only really fair way, 
all that is necessary is to arrange the names 
of the contestants on the score card in such 
a way that all the ''A" boys come first, then 
the ''B" boys, and so on, each group being 
clearly marked. The teacher in charge of 
the event having three or four classes to test, 
will test the ''A" boys of all the classes, put- 
ting their records down opposite their names; 
then all the "B" boys, and so on. This may 
seem somewhat complex, but in practice it 
will be found very simple. As in every- 
thing else, a little forethought and prepara- 
tion will make things go easily and quickly. 



104 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



RATIONAL ATHLI:TICS FOR BOYS 

(Standards adopted September, 1916) 

Posture and Alertness o 10*' class A. B O D EJ 

"ySJene^ 10 standard.: 

I. Running: (ju„. distance, 224 ft.; Sen., 304 ft.) 
Potato Race .... . ] J un. 26 sec, 24 22 20 18 

.Min. 5 pr.; 2 pt. tor every c;^ on Qrt 9R 9fi 94. 

sec. under tlie staidard. I ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ 

or. Dash. | 5 15 (jun. distance, 40 yd: Sen. so yd.) 

W«c.VniW'resmndarT J"". 9 sec. 8% 8% 8 7% 

II. Hop, Step, and Leap ^en. 12 " 11% 11% 11 10% 

Min 5 pt ; 1 pt. tor every ^ 15 Jun. 14= ft. 15 16 18 20 

foot over the standard. Sen. 18 19 20 22 24 

III. Broad Jump c ic t a'/^^j a^ c eo ca 

IV. High Jump........ 5 X5 Jun. 2'6" 2-8 2-10 3- 3-2 

^^Min.5pt.; Ipt.toreveryin. g^^ 3, 32 3.4 3.6 3-8 

V. Chinning the Bar 5 15 jun. 3 4 5 6 6 

Min. 5 pt.; 1 pi. for every ' Sen. 5 6 6 7 7 

pull-up over. w»^=ii. v v y 

VI. strength of Grip.. . ,- *^!":?f%°/ri5'''^;^'^''' "i^""^''- an <;« 

Min. 6 pt., 2 pt. for every? 5 15 Jun. 25 b. 30 35 40 60 

lb. over. Sen. 45 lb. 50 65 60 70 

*VII. Shot-Put 5 15 Jun.— - ^ _ — 

fooroven ^'" ^ ^^' ^'"* ^^^'^ ^^"- ^^ ^^ ^0 23 26 

VIII. Combination Dip 5 15 jun. 3 4 6 6 7 

Comb.Dip^Vver.P^-'°^^^^^^ Sen. 6 7 8 9 10 

IX. Trunk Lifting 5 15 Jun. 4 6 8 10 12 

Min. 5 pt.; 1 pt. for every Sen. 8 10 12 14 16 
litt over 

X. Chest Expansion . 5 15 Tun. 1% in. 2 2% 2j:^ 2% 

Min. 5pt.:2pt. foreveryJ<in. Sen. 2 »^ in. 2% 3 o% 3>^ 
over 

^m ' r*SA !.• Distance from Target- 
XL Pitching 15 Jun. 26 ft. 28 30 32 35 

th'e^pVal:;''To'"^i'nl^u"n!.''^^^^ , ,, Sen. 30 ft. 35 40 45 60 

XIL Basket Ball Goals ^ ^^ -^yjn^Kc. 55 50 45 40 

No min.; 1^ pt. for every c en ac ac\ r^c nn 

goal shot in the given time. ^en. OU seC. 45 40 6^ 30 

* The Juniors do not have the Shot Put. In order to equalize the score, they are al- 
lowed to make 20 pt. each in Hop, Step, and Leap, Broad Jump, and High Jump. 

Plate 45. — Revised Standards: Boys 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



105 



RATIONAL ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS 

(Standards Adopted September, 1916) 



Posture and Alertness 
Hygiene 

1. Running 

Potato Race. 1 

Min. 10 pt.; 2 pt. for every 
sec. under the standard. 

Off Dash 



Min. 10 pt.; 2 pt. for every 
1-5 sec. under the standard 



IL Strength of Grip. . 

Min. 10 pt., 2 pt. for every 
5 lb. over the standard. 

in. Chest Expansion. 

Min. 10 pt.; 2 pt- for every % 
in. over the standard. 



Min. 



Max. 
10 


01a.s8 A, B 


o r> 


e: 





10 


Standards: 










(Jun. distance, 224 ft.; Sen 
Jun. 29 sec. 27 
Sen. 37 sec. 35 


.,304 ft.) 

25 23 
33 31 


21 

29 


10 


20 


{Jun. distance, 50 yd.; Sen 
Jun. 10 sec. ^y^ 
Sen. 14 sec. 13y3 


. 80 yd.) 
92/5 9 

132/5 13 


8% 
12% 



10 20 



10 20 



iV. Basket Bail Throw iq 

Min. lOpt-: 1 pt. for every 2 
ft. over the standard. 



20 



20 



20 



V. Pitching 

5 balls; score according to 
figures on the target; no min> 
imum. 

VI. Basket Ball Goals. 20 

2 pt. for every goal shot in 
the given time. Na minimum. 

*V11. Serving In Tennis 

5 balls; 5 pt. for hitting lower 
strip; 3 pt. for upper. No 
minimum. 

Vlll. Putting in Golf... q 20 

6 balls; 6'pt. for each "put." 
No minimum. 

MX. Driving in Golf... 

6 pt. for every drive. 

•■The Juniors do not have Serving an 
allowed to make 25 pt. each in Grip, 
for Posture and for Hygiene is 20. 



20 



(The measure is the mean between 
the right hand and the left) 

Jun. 20 lb. 25 30 35 45 
Sen. 40 lb. 45 50 55 65 



Jun. 1% in. 2 
Sen. 2/2 in. 2% 


Y 


2>^ 
3X 


2% 


Jun. 24 ft. 26 
Sen. 30 ft. 32 


28 
34 


30 
36 


32 
40 


Distance from Target; 
Jun. 24 ft. 26 
Sen. 30 ft. 32 


28 
34 


30 
36 


32 
40 


Time Allowed: 

Jun. 60 sec. 55 
Sen. 50 sec. 45 


50 
40 


45 
35 


40 
30 


Distance from Net: 








Jun. — — 
Sen. 27 ft. 30 


33 


36 


39 


Distance from Hole: 
Jun. 1ft. 1-4 
Sen. 2 ft. 2-4 


1-8 
2-8 


2- 
3- 


2-4 
3-4 


Ho. of Balls Allowed: 








Jun. — — 
Sen. 9 8 


T 


r 


"5 



d Driving. In orderto equalize the'score they are 
Pitching, Goals, and Putting; and the maumum 



Plate 46. — Revised Standards: Girls 



VII. THE STANDARDS BASED ON 
INDIVIDUAL CLASSIFICATION 

Posture, Alertness, and Hygiene 

By posture we mean the habitual carriage 
of the body, standing, seated, or walking. 
Each pupil is subject to a good or bad mark 
in Posture from any teacher at any time, 
just as in Conduct. These marks are taken 
cognizance of by the class teacher, in making 
up the individual record in physical training, 
just as he takes cognizance of Conduct marks 
in making out the regular Monthly Report. 

Alertness, promptness in response to com- 
mand in class work, as well as in the gym- 
nasium, is marked in the same way. The 
fact that they are subject to bad marks in 
either or both of these things has an appre- 
ciable effect on the boy or girl who is trying 
to qualify in athletics. Posture and Alert- 
ness taken together count 10 points. 

Hygiene is also marked on a basis of 10 
by the class teacher and by the teacher of 
physiology, who may or may not be the same. 

106 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 107 

The class teacher's mark is an estimate of 
the pupil's habitual personal neatness. The 
other mark is supposed to represent the 
pupil's knowledge of the subject as taught. 

The sum of the marks for Posture, Alert- 
ness, and Hygiene, a possible 20 points, fur- 
nishes a lever that can be used to good effect 
by the wise teacher. 

Chest Expansion 

The regular setting up exercise prescribed 
for children in our public schools, to be done 
three times a day, begins and ends with 
^Meep breathing." In order to put some 
motive into this breathing exercise, the writer 
began, years ago, to offer prizes to the classes 
showing the best averages in chest expansion 
as a result of daily practice in deep breathing. 
It would be difficult to find any habit that 
will pay richer dividends in life and health 
than this habit of deep breathing. Some one 
has rather wittily said that those who die of 
lung trouble, die ''because they are too lazy 
to breathe," and there is more than a grain 
of truth in the remark. Telling children 
to breathe deeply is one thing; making a 



108 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

game of it, a game which they will play 
to win, is quite a different thing. We have 
obtained some really remarkable results in 
this direction and we feel that nothing we 
have accomplished is more valuable, nothing 
more satisfying, than the knowledge that be- 
cause of our efforts hundreds of children have 
begun to take pride in their ability to breathe 
deeply and to fully inflate their lungs. 

The method of testing the breathing has 
been described in detail in the Chapter on 
''Teaching the Exercises." The standards 
here given, however, will be found quite rea- 
sonable. ^Ye have no desire to go to extremes 
in this any more than in anything else. This 
lack of extremes is one of the reasons why 
the system is called ''Rational Athletics." 

In all the exercises, limits are set beyond 
which no credit is given, in order to avoid 
overdoing one thing and neglecting some- 
thing else. A high rating can be obtained 
only by good work in all the exercises. 

In Chest Expansion a "Junior A" boy 
must show If inches expansion, measured be- 
low the shoulder blades, in order to qualify. 
If he makes If inches he gets five points; if 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 109 

he fails to make If inches, he scores nothing. 
This idea of a minimum standard runs 
through most of the exercises and is very 
important. It is designed to put the pres- 
sure just where it is most needed, — upon 
the weakhngs and the indifferent ones. It 
makes a big difference in a class average if 
several individuals, through weakness or lack 
of effort, fail to ''qualify." Their zeros pull 
down the class average very badly, with the 
result that the leaders immediately take a 
very lively interest in the tail-enders, encour- 
aging the weak ones and driving the lazy ones 
to at least qualify. Many a weak, diffident 
boy or girl has been coaxed, coached, and 
"jollied" along by his or her classmates until 
that saving mark was earned; and then, 
finding that it could be done, they forthwith 
began to take a new pride in themselves, 
their improvement thereafter being often 
astonishing. 

In Chest Expansion, 5 points are allowed 
for one who does the minimum for his group, 
and two points more for each quarter of an 
inch over the minimum; but no one is cred- 
ited with more than 15 points. In the girls' 



110 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

records, the minimum is 10 and the maximum 
20, because of the smaller number of exercises, 
but the principle is exactly the same. 

Strength of Grip 

In measuring strength of grip, we use a 
recording device consisting of an oval steel 
frame that fits the hollow of the hand, with 
a pointer that moves across the face of a 
disk on which a scale indicates the number 
of pounds pressure. Pupils are tested for 
the right hand and the left; the mean be- 
tween the two is then taken and compared 
with the standard for that group. Those 
reaching the standard get five points. For 
every five pounds over the standard they get 
two points more. For instance, a ''Junior 
A'' boy who registers a mean pressure of 45 
pounds — which is 20 pounds over the re- 
quired minimum — would score thirteen 
points. 

It must be borne in mind that these stand- 
ards may be raised or lowered as they are 
found too high or too low. The object is to 
keep them always where practically all may, 
after reasonable practice, qualify; yet high 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 111 

enough to make it interesting for the stronger 
and more skillful. 

Potato Race 

We use the Potato Race as our standard 
running event because it can be conducted 
indoors or out, depending on the weather, 
and because it has a maximum of physical 
training value which at the same time fur- 
nishes fun and excitement, also. The method 
of conducting the race will be found under 
''How to Teach the Exercises." 

The distance for Juniors is 224 feet, in which 
they must place two blocks on the marks 
and bring them back to the basket. Stand- 
ard time for a "Junior A" boy is 26 seconds, 
scoring 5 points, 2 points being allowed for 
every second he clips off the standard. If he 
takes longer than the standard time, he 
scores zero. Standard time for girls is 3 
seconds more for Juniors, and 4 seconds more 
for Seniors. 

Weather permitting, this event may be 
varied by straight-away sprints, 50 yards 
for Juniors; 80 yards for Seniors. The stand- 
ard for 50 yards is 9 seconds for ^'Junior A," 



112 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

two points more being allowed for every fifth 
of a second clipped off this standard, up 
to the maximum of 15 points. Twelve sec- 
onds is standard for 80 yards, similar allow- 
ance being made for time under the standard. 
The runner who fails to make the distance in 
standard time scores zero. Standard time 
for girls is one second more for Juniors and 
two seconds more for Seniors. 

Standing Broad Jump 

The minimum for a ''Junior A" boy is 4 
feet 6 inches, scoring 5 points, as before, one 
half of a point being allowed for every inch 
over the minimum. The boy who jumps 20 
inches farther scores 10 additional points, 
making 15 in all, which, as in every other 
event, is the maximum number of points 
allowed. 

Hop, Step, and Leap 

In this the minimum for a "Junior A'' boy 
is 14 feet, one additional point being allowed 
for every foot over the minimum, up to 15 
points. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 113 

Basket Ball Goals 

Each player is given the ball for the length 
of time permitted under ''Time Allowed" for 
his group. No one else must touch the ball- 
during that time. After each ''shoot" the 
player must recover the ball and "shoot" 
again as rapidly as possible and from any 
position he chooses. The element of chance 
enters so largely into this exercise, as also 
into Pitching, Serving, Putting, and Driving, 
that we have dropped in each of them the 
minimum standard, each pupil being allowed 
the number of points earned, up to 15, the 
maximum. 

Pitching 

The boys pitch baseballs at a target con- 
sisting of a large piece of canvas, in which an 
opening 24 inches high and 15 inches wide is 
cut in such a way as to represent the space 
within which a ball must be placed to be 
over the plate and be called a "strike." 
Each boy gets 8 balls, three to "warm up," 
which are not counted, and 5 to score with. 
Three points are allowed for every ball he 
puts "over the plate." 



114 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

The girls pitch at a regular target painted 
on a similar piece of canvas and hung in a 
corner of the gymnasium where flying balls 
will do the least damage. The bull's-eye 
counts 5; first ring, 3; second ring, 2; outside 
the rings but on the canvas, 1. Each girl 
throws 8 balls, three to warm up, and 5 to 
score. Five bull's-eyes would count 25, but 
only 20 points are allowed, as in the other 
exercises for girls. 

High Jump 

This is probably the most popular event 
with the boys. It is also the most diflScult 
event for which to fix standards. It should 
be understood, therefore, that all the stand- 
ards given here are subject to modification 
according to the actual conditions under 
which the work is done. As stated before, 
the minimum should be a mark that prac- 
tically any pupil can work up to, with a 
reasonable amount of effort; but the maxi- 
mum should be a mark that only the best 
can reach or surpass, bearing in mind always 
that the aim of this system is not to develop 
a few star performers, but to pull up the 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 115 

average of all and, more especially, to bring 
out those who need training and encourage- 
ment most — the ones who are completely 
neglected and overlooked under the present 
system of intensive, individual athletics. 
When we come to describe the ''Pentathlon/' 
the all-round individual championship, it 
w^ill be seen that we have provided work 
a-plenty for the would-be ''stars." 

A "Junior A" boy is at present required to 
clear only 2 feet 6 inches in order to qualify 
for the High Jump. He is given one addi- 
tional point for every inch over the minimum, 
while a jump of 3 feet 4 inches will give him 
a perfect score, — 15 points. As the boys 
become more proficient, we expect to raise 
these standards, but at present we find them 
high enough. 

Shot Put 

This is a good, old-fashioned, manly out- 
door sport. In order to make it reasonably 
safe in large classes and available indoors in 
bad weather, we use a six-pound medicine 
ball on which we have had the makers sew a 
little leather pocket, into which the boy slips 



116 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

his fingers. This prevents the ball bouncing 
out of his hand when he makes his prepara- 
tory skip. We found that the Junior boys 
were not quite big enough to handle this to 
advantage, so we have reserved it for the 
Seniors. A ''Senior A" boy is supposed to 
''put" the ball — not throw it — 16 feet in 
order to earn his 5 points. One point more 
is allowed for every foot over the minimum, 
26 feet making a perfect score, or 15 points. 

Chinning the Bar 

This is one of the regular P. S. A. L. events, 
which we have retained, with this difference: 
We insist on a maximum (13 for "Junior A"; 
17 for "Senior E"), because the exercise is 
so severely local in character that we prefer 
not to take chances in over-doing it. The 
"Senior E" boy who can chin himseK 17 
times is quite good enough at that sort of 
thing; we believe he should then be made to 
work at something else which will develop 
another set of muscles to a corresponding 
state of development. 

The standards in this event show a marked 
difference from the standards in other events. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 117 

in that the ''E" class boys are not forced to 
meet a steadily increasing minimum. The 
reason for this is that the greater weight of 
these boys — which may be a help in some 
things — is a decided handicap in this event. 
We came to this conclusion only after com- 
paring results grade by grade, as shown in 
"Table of Results." {Plate J^7.) 

A "Junior A" boy who chins 3 times 
earns 5 points and one point more for each 
additional pull-up to the maximum, 15 points. 

Combination Dip 

We regard this exercise as one of the best 
all-round exercises known. It brings into 
play, arms, shoulders, back, loins, and legs. 
It is hard at first, but the boys who once 
mastered it ran up such high scores that we 
had to set a limit. 

A ''Junior A" doing three Combinations 
scores 5, and one point more for each addi- 
tional Combination, up to 15 points. 

Trunk Lifting 

This exercise, like the preceding one, is 
not particularly interesting or spectacular. 



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118 



NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 



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FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 119 

But they both have great physical training 
value, especially for trunk muscles which are 
not often reached and which have a very 
important influence on good carriage and 
general vitality. One of the best features of 
the system is that the interest aroused by 
the inter-class competitions, and the struggle 
for a good individual record (and the insignia 
that go with it) drive boys to practice even 
these less interesting exercises in order to 
score the resulting points that may be ob- 
tained. 

A ''Junior A'' boy who lifts his body clear 
from prone to sitting position 4 times earns 
5 points, and one point more for each addi- 
tional lift, to the maximum, 15. 

This completes the list of exercises that 
have been arranged for boys. 

These 12 events with a maximum of 15 
points each, together with the 20 points that 
may be awarded for Posture, Alertness, and 
Hygiene, give a total of 200 points, a number 
which is readily convertible into per cent, fig- 
ures. It is possible to give as accurate and as 
satisfactory a rating in Athletics or Physical 
Training as in Arithmetic or Grammar. 



120 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

Exercises for Girls 

Putting in Golf. — By the use of a Parlor 
Golf Green consisting of an inclined plane 
near the top of which a cup is sunk, we 
are able to approximate very closely the 
character of stroke that is necessary for 
putting in the real game. The distances 
from which each group must ''put" are 
marked on a strip of felt, fastened down 
the middle of the plane. Five balls are al- 
lowed, each successful put counting 5 points, 
up to a maximum of 20; four good puts out 
of five attempts is considered a perfect score. 

Serving in Tennis. — Two strips of cloth, 
one 8 feet long and 18 inches wide, the other 
the same length but only 12 inches wide, are 
tacked one above the other against a flat 
wall on the side of the Gymnasium. Stand- 
ing at distances varying from 27 feet to the 
regulation 39 feet, the girls try to hit these 
strips of cloth with tennis balls, using a regu- 
lar tennis racket. The cloths are hung at 
such a height as to represent fairly well the 
space over a tennis net, within which a ball 
must be placed in order to strike inside the 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 121 

service court. A ball striking the lower 
strip, which is supposed to be close to the 
net, counts 5 points; one striking the upper 
strip is considered to be not quite so good a 
service, and therefore counts only 3 points. 
There is a possibility of making 25 points, 
but 20 is the maximum number allowed, as 
in all other events. This event and the 
following one are confined to the Senior girls 
(7th and 8th years). 

Driving in Golf. — For practice in Driv- 
ing we have a regular indoor cage such as 
is used in schools for teaching golf. Plainly 
marked on the heavy canvas at the back of 
the cage is a large oblong space, represent- 
ing the space within which a ball striking 
may be considered to have been ''driven" 
true and straight. The distance for all is 
necessarily the same; but an ''A" girl is 
allowed 9 balls, while an ''E" girl is allowed 
only 5. Five points credit is given for every 
ball that strikes square and hard within the 
outlined space up to a maximum of 20 points. 

Outside of this space is a larger one. A ball 
striking within this larger field is considered 
''fair," and is given three points. A ball 



122 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

striking the canvas outside the larger space is 
given one point. 

Physical training teachers who have ob- 
served the work of our boys and girls have 
been unanimous in declaring that the girls' 
program was much more interesting than 
the boys'. Girls have never, since the days 
of the ancient Greeks, received a square deal 
in the matter of athletics. \Mien we began 
looking for events that would make an at- 
tractive and effective program for boys, we 
had only to adopt and adapt the things that 
boys were already used to doing. ^Mien it 
came to girls, however, we found so few events 
that were attractive and suitable that we had 
to invent some. Consequently our program 
for girls presents some novelties, and novel- 
ties are always interesting. 

In the selection of an exercise three tests 
are invariably applied: 

1. Will it interest.^ 

2. Will it help to all-round development.*^ 

3. Is it practicable.^ 

We can say for all the exercises here listed 
that they have met these three tests, some for 
over six years, the latest for more than two. 



VIII. COMPETITION IN 
SCHOLARSHIP AND ATHLETICS 

The main source of trouble in athletics of 
the usual intensive kind (team athletics) is 
the enforcement of eligibility rules. In Ra- 
tional Athletics we have no eligibility rules. 
Every boy and girl in the grammar grades is 
eligible for all the physical training the 
school can give. The only exceptions to this 
rule are that only members of the Athletic 
Association who have paid their dues may take 
part in the Monthly Meets or in the Pentath- 
lon, which will be explained in the next chapter. 

We felt, however, that the very general 
and very lively interest in athletics which 
we had succeeded in arousing ought to be 
made use of as a lever to raise the standard of 
scholarship. By a modification of ''The Wy- 
oming Idea," introduced by Lieut. Steever, 
U. S. A., we proposed, more than a month 
after the term had started, that awards 
should be made as follows: 

1. A bronze button to those who attain 

123 



124 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

a high standard (say 160 points) in athletics 
during the term. 

2. A silver button to those who attain a 
similar high standard in scholarship. 

3. A gold button to those who attain a 
high standard in both. 

As first arranged, these buttons were to 
be awarded to the members of the squads 
that attained the highest averages. This 
resulted in an immediate general reorganiza- 
tion of the squads. The gold buttons were 
what all wanted, and scholarship forthwith 
took on a sudden and new importance. A 
new election for squad leaders was held, and 
these in turn selected their squads, choosing 
first those whose names stood highest on the 
Honor Roll for scholarship. It was really 
amusing to see the sudden change of front. 
The first two were easily picked. When it 
came to the third leader's turn to pick, he 
dived into his pockets, pulled out the school 
bulletin, and eagerly scanned the Honor Roll 
before making his choice ! These squad lead- 
ers were willing to take a chance on working 
up their squads to a high standing in ath- 
letics during the term, but they did not 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 125 

want to pick ''dubs" who were good for 
nothing but athletics. As a result, in this 
reorganization, the boys who would ordi- 
narily be snapped up first were selected last. 
The suddenness and the unanimity with 
which these squad leaders acted was a reve- 
lation to the writer, making him feel that 
he had made a "ten strike" in inaugurating 
this competition. And experience amply con- 
firmed this first impression. 

We realized before long that to consider the 
squad as the basis for awarding individual 
buttons was wrong. We, therefore, changed 
to the new basis the following term, retain- 
ing the squad formation, however, and award- 
ing a small banner, suitably inscribed, to be 
retained by the leading squad during the 
month, or until won by some other squad. 
The buttons are awarded to the individuals 
attaining the required standing, regardless 
of the squad connection. In this way we 
get both the value of organization, coopera- 
tion, and leadership in the struggle for the 
banner, and the incentive to individual effort, 
regardless of the failure of the squad, in the 
struggle for the button. 



126 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

This competition is confined to the seventh 
and eighth years, and is necessarily based 
upon the point system and upon individual 
classification. The number of points attain- 
able in physical training is 200. For greater 
flexibility in marking the minor subjects, 
the maximum in scholarship is 300. Conse- 
quently in a competition of this sort, physical 
training and mental training take almost 
equal rank. This, it seems to us, is as it 
should be. AYe all subscribe to the ancient 
motto: ''A sound mind in a sound body,'' 
yet how far we fall short of this aim in our 
school work! On the one hand we have the 
school, just beginning to recognize physical 
training in a perfunctory sort of way and as 
a very minor subject; and on the other we 
have the Athletic Association, heaping hon- 
ors, insignia, and applause on the mem- 
bers of its ''teams" for success in athletics 
alone. 

In our system, the boy or girl who earns 
a bronze button for athletics, a silver but- 
ton for scholarship, or a gold button for both, 
earns also the right to wear on cap, sweater, 
or middy blouse, the official emblem of the 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 127 

school — a felt monogram "33" in a modified 
circle, in the school colors, blue and white. 

{Plate J^8.) 




Plate 48. — The School Emblem 

The winner of a bronze or silver button in 
the 8A grade (first half of the 8th year) may 
qualify for a silver or gold button, respec- 
tively, in SB. But no one is awarded two 
buttons of the same order. No one but the 



128 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

winner of a button is allowed to wear the 
official monogram of the school. 

The two points we wish to emphasize, even 
at the risk of tiring by repetition, are: 

1. That in this system of Rational Ath- 
letics, scholarship and physical training are 
on practically an equal footing. 

2. That boys and girls are on exactly the 
same footing, receiving the same kind of 
training (with somewhat different exercises), 
and the same rewards. 



IX. THE PENTATHLON 

The Pentathlon, as its name implies, is a 
competition in five events, constituting an 
all-round championship. The Pentathlon and 
the Decathlon (ten events) come down to us 
from the days of the Ancient Greek Olym- 
pics, having been revived and somewhat 
modified in our modern Olympics. Taking 
the same idea, and adapting it to our con- 
ditions, we have worked out a Pentathlon, 
— an all-round championship for boys and 
one for girls. 

A few years ago we attempted to make this 
the basis of inter-school competition but, 
finding that the program was too heavy, we 
have come back to the modification of the 
''Class Athletics" idea, proposing three events 
for inter-school competition each term, as 
outlined in a previous chapter. 

AMiile our main effort has been to bring 
up the general average and to encourage 
especially the weak and diffident, we never- 
theless know that the instinct for hero-wor- 

129 



130 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

ship is strong in all of us, and that the crowd 
likes to watch the ''stars" perform. It w^ould 
be foolish to ignore or attempt to stifle this 
instinct. We have, therefore, given it room 
for full expression in the Pentathlon. 

Only those pronounced physically fit by 
the school physician and the teachers of 
physical training, and having their parents' 
consent, are allowed to enter this contest. 
It takes place twice a year, at the regular meet 
in January, and on our Field Day, after the 
inter-class contests have been decided. The 
Board of Education allows each school to 
take one day in the Spring for organized 
games outdoors, and provides the fields suit- 
able for such outings. 

About two weeks before the date of the 
Field Dav, the five events that are to con- 
stitute the Pentathlon are announced. Some 
time is given by teachers, after school hours, 
to coaching the candidates. This is the ex- 
tent of our single concession to the idea of 
developing star athletes. On our last Field 
Day, twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls 
competed in the Pentathlon. Gold, silver, 
and bronze medals were awarded to first. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 131 

second, and third winners, both boys and 
girls. 

The program for boys consisted of: 

1. 80 yd. Dash 

2. High Jump 

3. Shot Put 

4. Hop, Step, and Leap 

5. Combination Dip 

For the purposes of the Pentathlon, the 
maximum limits were removed, except on the 
Combination Dip, the limit on which was raised 
to 20. In the dash, the boys ran in pairs, 
being timed separately, and awarded points 
according to the point system. Similarly, 
points were awarded in the other events ac- 
cording to the classification of the individual, 
the limit of 15 points being disregarded. 

The girls' program consisted of : 

1. Potato Race 

2. Basket Ball Throw 

3. Basket Ball Goals 

4. Serving in Tennis 

5. Pitching 

In these events, also, the limits were re- 
moved and each player was awarded the 



132 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

number of points won according to her indi- 
vidual classification. One teacher acted as 
scorer. Results were handed to him by the 
teachers in charge of the different events, and 
a few minutes after the last event was fin- 
ished the names of the winners were an- 
nounced. 

Several of the individual performances in 
these contests were remarkable. But still 
more remarkable was the fact that the very 
considerable degree of strength, skill, and 
endurance shown by these boys and girls 
was not the result of special coaching, but 
was merely the product of each day's work in 
their regular physical training. 

Rational Athletics has, in fact, so welded 
together physical training and athletics, that 
our physical training period has taken on a 
new life as the result of the natural interest 
in athletics, while our athletic exhibitions, 
on the other hand, are exclusively the product 
of our regular physical training work. 



X. TROPHIES AND PRIZES 

By ''trophy/' we understand some per- 
manent sign of victory, such as a banner, 
plaque, picture, piece of statuary, cup, or 
other object that remains in the possession 
of a class or a school until captured by some 
other class or school. 

By ''prize," we understand a medal, pin, 
button, or other emblem of victory which, 
after being presented to an individual, be- 
comes his property. 

One of the worst features of "amateur" 
athletics, as generally conducted, has been 
the number and the intrinsic value of the 
prizes offered. Strictly speaking, an ama- 
teur should not receive a prize of any intrin- 
sic value whatever; at least, this is our belief. 
We have compromised for the present with 
what we regard as an evil, in that we do pre- 
sent gold, silver, and bronze medals to the 
winners of the all-round championship of 
the school twice a year. The buttons which 
we present to all who reach a high standard 

133 



134 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

have an intrinsic value, also, but not enough 
to be considered as violating the principle 
above laid down. Moreover, no individual 
can ever win more than one button of a kind. 
With these ideas in mind we propose the 
following scheme of trophies and prizes to 
cover the various phases of the work, and 
the various plans under which Rational Ath- 
letics, as a system, may be operated. 

For the New Form of Class Athletics 

Vse propose that the P. S. A. L. present 
eight sets of plaques, instead of four, as at 
present. A headpiece, with pendent bars 
for each grade, would prevent cumbersome 
duplication in the case of a school winning 
trophies in several grades. By means of 
this device, it would be practicable to have 
two sets, one for Fall and one for Spring. 
Some friends of our school provided the 
funds for such a double set of trophies a few 
years ago. The use of these plaques has been 
discontinued for reasons explained elsewhere, 
but the idea is practicable. 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 135 

For Inter-class Meets 

Two felt or silk banners, lettered ''Inter- 
Glass Champions/' one for ''Juniors" and one 
for "Seniors," will be sufficient. It is worth 
while to have these banners mounted on poles 
so that they may be carried on occasions, by 
the classes holding them. On Field Day es- 
pecially, the classes then holding the banners 
should be allowed to march onto the field and 
plant the banners in front of the grand stand. 
At the close of the games, the winning classes 
should take possession of them and march off 
the field with them. 

Where individual ratings are given, it is 
advisable to have two smaller banners or 
pennants, marked "Inter-Squad Champions," 
Seniors and Juniors, to be held by the 
squad showing the highest averages for the 
preceding month. This applies whether 
the competition is solely in athletics or in 
the combination of scholarship and athletics. 
It is important to furnish some incentive 
for the squad to work together. The weaker 
ones then get encouragement and assist- 
ance ftom the stronger, and there is oppor- 



136 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

tunity for training in leadership and team- 
work. 

Prizes for High Rating in Athletics 

To every boy or girl attaining a high rat- 
ing in athletics should be given a pin or 
button indicative of that fact. It is well to 
have a number stamped on the back of each 
button, and a register kept showing to whom 
each numbered button was given. Boys 
especially are strange creatures. They will 
trade anything they possess for anything that 
takes their fancy. Then, sometimes, bullies 
take things from other boys. Unless a tally 
is kept, it is impossible to prove ownership. 
\Yith a carefully kept register, we can be sure 
that no boy dare wear a button bought or 
stolen from another. 

At first we gave a silver button, showing 
the figure of a boy putting the shot or of a 
girl throwing a basket ball, with the letters 
R. A., indicating Rational Athletics, and the 
number of the school. More recently we have 
adopted a monogram for the school and, 
following the custom of the Universities, we 
award a button bearing this monogram to 



POR BOYS AND GIRLS 137 

those attaining a satisfactory rating. With 
this button goes the right to wear the school's 
official monogram on the cap, sweater, or 
middy blouse. Our young people are quite 
as proud of that honorable distinction as the 
young man at Yale or Harvard is of the ^^Y'' 
or "H" blazoned on his sweater. 

As explained elsewhere, we have carried 
this idea farther, and now present a bronze 
button to those who excel in athletics, a 
silver button to those who excel in scholar- 
ship, and a gold button to those who excel 
in both. With each of these buttons goes the 
right to wear the school monogram. Those 
who win it for athletics alone wear the mono- 
gram plain; those who get it for scholarship 
may add an edging of silver braid; those 
who get it for both may use an edging of gold 
braid. This feature is optional. 

The plan of awarding a button and in- 
signia we commend to all schools that take 
up Rational Athletics seriously enough to 
have a basis for awarding individual prizes. 
If, later, they take up the Scholarship and 
Athletics idea, they have only to duplicate 
the same design in silver and in gold. When 



138 NEW RATIONAL ATHLETICS 

we say ''gold/' we mean, of course, a good 
quality of gold-filled button, which will be 
found to give very satisfactory service. 

The award of individual buttons, we believe, 
should be reserved for the 7th and 8th years. 
This prevents duplication and the cheapening 
of the prize by making it too common. 

All these things cost money, to be sure. 
But the interest in the Monthly Meets, with 
a good lively program, is sufficient to main- 
tain an athletic association that can easily 
provide the necessary funds. This is true 
not merely of the school in a well-to-do 
neighborhood. In a 6B school in one of the 
poorest sections of the city we had, under this 
system, over 700 members out of a possible 
1000. Because our boys were poor, however, 
the Association provided 50 running suits, 
50 pairs of leather running shoes, and 25 
bathrobes for our track and field team in 
the district meet. 

Prizes for the Pentathlon 

As before stated, we have presented gold, 
silver, and bronze medals to holders of first, 
second, and third place in this semi-annual 



FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 139 

event. So far, these medals have been do- 
nated by some friend of the school, but we 
shall probably have them paid for in future 
by the Association — unless we decide to dis- 
continue them. We have tried consistently, 
in this connection, to cultivate among our 
pupils a spirit of independence — a feeling 
that. if a thing is worth having, it is worth 
paying for; that it is very much finer to pay 
for what we want through our own organiza- 
tion, than to solicit or accept favors even 
from well-disposed friends. 



I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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